Always be sincere in prayer

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

WE have to be wary of the danger to turn our prayer into mere babble of words. Christ pointed this out when he said: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.” (Mt 6,7)

To be sincere in our prayers, we need to review the crucial relationship between God and our capacity to stick to the truth or to be sincere. Nowadays, with the plethora of data and information, we have to remind ourselves constantly that truthfulness or sincerity is not a matter of simply confirming these data and pieces of information to our own designs. We need to process these raw data to leaven them with the love of God and submit them to God’s will.

To put it bluntly, we can only be in the truth when we are with God. Outside of him, let’s wish ourselves sheer luck, because the most likely thing to happen is to slip from the truth. It's like chasing the wind. For all the excitement and advantages a Godless pursuit of truth gives, everything will just turn out to be vanity.

And so, prayer is a must. It’s what vitally, existentially unites us with God. Without it, we will just be on our own, an easy prey to our own weaknesses, let alone, the temptations around.

Very vulnerable to the temptation to distort the truth and to fall into the tricks of hypocrisy and pretension are persons endowed and favored with all sorts of talents, intelligence, position, power and who may already have attained a good level of sanctity. That’s because their situation attracts all sorts of temptations.

We have to be more aware of this phenomenon and be able to handle it. Even Christ himself was tempted by the devil to deviate from his Father’s will. And the devil employed the subtlest of tricks, even quoting Scripture, to bend Christ to the devil’s will. The devil will always reserve the worst strategy to those who dare to get close to God.

Thus, those of us who try our best to follow God should not be surprised when the most “irresistible” temptations come to us not only from time to time, but even persistently. We somehow should expect this thing to happen, and be ready for it.

One gauge that can tell us that we have a good prayer, one where we truly have an intimate encounter with God, is when we come out of it burning with zeal for love and concern for the others. Somehow we would catch the fire behind these words of Christ: “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Lk 12,49)

Yes, real prayer has that effect. If, on the contrary, we come out of it just thinking of our own selves, or worse, feeling low and dry, then we are not actually praying. Prayer will always sharpen our mindfulness and thoughtfulness of others. We would be willing to suffer for them, helping them bear their burdens.

Prayer is by definition an act of love. And love in turn is always self-perpetuating. It never stops giving itself to God. As St. Francis de Sales would put it, “The measure of love is to love without measure.”

And because of our love for God, then our prayer which is an act of love for God will always lead us to love others. That is always the trajectory of a true, love-inspired prayer. Its vertical aspect never leaves behind the horizontal aspect.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

LIFE BRIDGES

 "If you are good at building bridges, you will never fall into the abyss!" said Mehmet Murat Ildan. Understanding is the bridge between two minds; love is the bridge between two souls.

We are all bridge builders during our whole life. I am not talking about the raised platform on a ship or a bridge mounting for false teeth or, as in the bony part of the nose. I am talking about spiritual bridges establishing connections between us and other people - or, between God and us.

Another elementary example is the "birthday bridge" or the turn to the year, that takes us from the old into a new period of life. A very important bridge in life takes people to me and me to people. It does not matter if our skin is black or white, if we are rich or poor, man or woman, being sad or happy.

So obvious our daily life is that we might even forget simple things easily. Self-esteem, respect and freedom from anxiety are the necessary and conclusive foundations for this kind of bridge.

Earl Nightingale discussed topics with regards to human character development and behaviors. He was known for his deep voice and clear diction. He was the voice of 'Sky King', which was a radio adventure series.

Nightingale also co-authored a book called 'The Strangest Secret' which is considered to be one of the greatest motivational books of all time. Earl Nightingale's 'Our Changing World’ was a five-minute radio commentary program which spoke about personal development.

Every person experiences a struggling period in their lives where they learn, and understand the wonders of life precisely.

“Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach”, Earl Nightingale describes the significance of the bridge and how it helps one to travel through the hard phase of our lives. The bridge is a path and a direction that motivates us to move towards enlightened life.

What comes out from dark times is a whole new person who has risen up and has crossed the bridge for a brighter world. Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud.

Small but important bridges every daily - how easily are they to be built: gestures of love - like a medicine; a handshake together with commendation and praise, encouraging words, a warm smile, instead of a superficial "How are you?" and the expected "Fine" or "OKAY LANG!".

Allow me to say it clearly and directly to the point: Separations result from crumbled or fit for demolition bridges. Destroyed spiritual bridges can be found at any corner. Look into your neighbourhood or, don't drive away and repress this topic in your family. Insignificant trifling matters, minor arguing, misinterpretations, results in silence - and after the destroyed bridge follows an invincible wall not only between estates but also in the hearts and minds of stubborn human beings. Men as well as women build too many walls and not enough bridges.

I was born and grew up together with my parents in a parish house. Up to the time of my active performances - among many other things - I did learn this: 

"Build your own bridge to God and never doubt in Him. Always remember His promise. When a rainbow appears, it confirms His proximity and neighbourhood and His faith. God's unique bridge, a rainbow, is always there and durable, long lasting and solid. The main bridge, which affords passage to God, is the institution "church".

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.