Rainy Days and Learning to Pray

“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew" 6:7-15

This day dawned dark, with cold rain slashing against the window panes. The sky in grief or so it would seem to me. Today marks a day when one thing ends and another begins. The rain makes it ever more solemn and ever more profound. As if the earth were aching with me today, as if there was a breaking heart beating along side mine. We all have these days of transition, where the burdens seem to large to bear and the future seems uncertain and cloudy. It is for times like these and all other days that we learn to pray. We repeat words that bring us close to the heart of God, opening our heart to the breaking heart of God which is ever nearer and kinder than we know. We pray to invite God's will in, which softens our beings and gives us the strength to forgive others.

Jesus taught his disciples to pray, prayer that would bring them close to God's heart, not make them religious leaders, or world renown mystics. Our job is to remain close to the heart of God, in good days and bad, in dark and bright skies, and to love and forgive those who break our hearts and turn towards the darkness.

May this dreary day not be the mark of our souls but the evidence of God's love and light in our hearts. I ask only that today I pray continuously, trusting and knowing that God is continually reforming and transforming us all, making us vessels of love and light to a dark world. May we all live through our dark times close to the heart of God as we pray without ceasing.