Pick up the Phone! (or Obeying the Call to Prayer)

Do you ever get that little prompt to pray? You’re in the middle of something, on your way somewhere, or maybe about to start some new activity and you think to yourself, I could/should pray right now. Happens to me all the time, and not at what I’d call the most convenient times so I’m not very good at responding immediately. In my mind, what follows the spur-of-the-moment inclination to pray is procrastination – rather innocently, mind you: I should pray, and I will when I’m done with x, y, z. Then what happens? I forget. The opportunity is gone. Lightning and/or chaos struck my house. The phone rings. Name it. It’s lights-out by the time I remember that I meant to pray earlier and I sleepily vow that I’ll get to it the next day.

Wash, rinse, repeat. No good.

So because delaying obviously isn’t aiding my need for interaction with God, I decided to perform a personal experiment. The days of Prayer Procrastinating are often abuzz with chaos, which only perpetuates the tendency to put it off; and I can only conclude that not praying adds to the chaos, too. The proverbial vicious cycle, you know. What I’m doing now I affectionately call the Drop Everything Approach, and it totally works. Once the thought to pray enters, BAM – I do it. Even if it’s just a brief check-in with Jesus to thank Him for the blessings and struggles of the day, singing the Angel of God prayer to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” so my boys will listen and chime in, or a full on, sit-down and git outcher Bible  kind of time, I do it. The day goes more easily and I’m very aware of Christ’s presence and support; I find that the call to prayer comes right when I need it, even if I don’t immediately realize it.

For instance: I was driving home from a fantastic Bible Study last night after a rough afternoon of feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. There’s a perpetual adoration chapel a few blocks from my house and passing it, I felt prompted: Come to Me. Per usual, my initial reaction was to continue what I was doing – going home to rest and catch up with my husband – but there was no urgency and no reason why I couldn’t stop in. Fortunately for me, God arranged a stop sign right where I started hem-n-hawing, so I had a few seconds to change my mind. I quickly flipped my blinker and took a couple of sharp rights into the church parking lot. Despite a great time with a great group of girls that evening, I couldn’t totally shake feeling overwhelmed and troublingly weak in spirit. I sat in a back corner of the chapel, staring at Christ in the monstrance, asking for His wisdom, His peace and counsel, revealing to Him how feeble I felt. Getting distracted (as one can in prayer), I glanced up at a plaque on the wall: Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face continually (Psalm 105:4). And there was my answer, my consolation. I have to constantly draw from the strength of Christ by praying, but more specifically, seek His face in the Eucharist through Mass and Adoration.

The call to prayer is more than just a fleeting thought or random idea. It’s a gift from God, a beckoning from Him to come and find rest, much different than casually thinking of home to-dos, or work, or plans for the rest of the week. The urgings of the Holy Spirit are plain and obvious, but often dismissed because, frankly, we don’t realize that it’s God calling. Try out the Drop Everything Approach and watch your faith and spirituality soar.