508 FACING DIFFICULTIES IN PRAYER

YOUCAT Lesson 508

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

508  What happens if you do not feel anything when you pray or even experience reluctance to pray?

Distractions during prayer, the feeling of interior emptiness and dryness, indeed, even an aversion to prayer are experienced by everyone who prays.  Then to persevere faithfully is itself already a prayer.  [2729-2733]

Habitual preoccupation in worldly activities and events is like the seed sown on rocky soil.  ..... 508

The Greatest in the Kingdom

At that time the disciples^* approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.   Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. --Matthew 18:1-5

Even St. Therese of Lisieux for a long time could not sense God’s love at all.  Shortly before her death she was visited one night by her sister Celine.  She noticed that Therese’s hands were clasped together.  “What are you doing?  You should try to sleep”, Celine said.  “I cannot.  I am suffering too much.  But I am praying”, Therese replies.  “And what do you say to Jesus?”  “I do not say anything to him.  I love him.”

“All difficulties in prayer have just one cause: praying as though God were not there.”  St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)

“The best medicine against spiritual dryness is to place ourselves like beggars in the presence of God and the saints.  And to go like a beggar from one saint to another and to ask for spiritual alms with the same insistence as a poor man on the street would ask for alms.”  St. Philipp Neri (1515-1595, the “Apostle of Rome “ and founder of the Oratorians)

  

 [2729-2733]

II. HUMBLE VIGILANCE OF HEART

Facing difficulties in prayer

2729 The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction. It can affect words and their meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern, more profoundly, him to whom we are praying, in vocal prayer (liturgical or personal), meditation, and contemplative prayer. To set about hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all that is necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the battle, the choice of which master to serve.( Copmpare Matthew 6:21,24.)¹⁶ –CCC

2730 In positive terms, the battle against the possessive and dominating self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart. When Jesus insists on vigilance, he always relates it to himself, to his coming on the last day and every day: today. The bridegroom comes in the middle of the night; the light that must not be extinguished is that of faith: "'Come,' my heart says, 'seek his face!'"(Psalm 27:8.)¹⁷ –CCC

2731 Another difficulty, especially for those who sincerely want to pray, is dryness. Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones. This is the moment of sheer faith clinging faithfully to Jesus in his agony and in his tomb. "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if dies, it bears much fruit."( John 12:24.)¹⁸ If dryness is due to the lack of roots, because the word has fallen on rocky soil, the battle requires conversion.( Compare Luke 8:6,13.)¹⁹

Facing temptations in prayer

2732 The most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of faith. It expresses itself less by declared incredulity than by our actual preferences. When we begin to pray, a thousand labors or cares thought to be urgent vie for priority; once again, it is the moment of truth for the heart: what is its real love? Sometimes we turn to the Lord as a last resort, but do we really believe he is? Sometimes we enlist the Lord as an ally, but our heart remains presumptuous. In each case, our lack of faith reveals that we do not yet share in the disposition of a humble heart: "Apart from me, you can do nothing."( John 15:5.)²⁰ –CCC

2733 Another temptation, to which presumption opens the gate, is acedia. The spiritual writers understand by this a form of depression due to lax ascetical practice, decreasing vigilance, carelessness of heart. "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."( Matthew 26:41.)²¹ The greater the height, the harder the fall. Painful as discouragement is, it is the reverse of presumption. The humble are not surprised by their distress; it leads them to trust more, to hold fast in constancy.  –CCC