Misconceptions About God

It’s easy for me to stray from the core truth of God and adopt misleading or trivial beliefs. My faith encourages me to “continuously refine” my understanding by discarding all notions that are “limited, image-bound, or imperfect.”

A Contrarian View: The Value of Religion

Understanding Mystical Prayer

There’s a form of prayer known as kataphatic prayer, which emphasizes releasing ideas that do not reflect God. It resembles a buzzcut that trims away the distractions of my heart.

Kataphatic prayer is embraced by mystics like St. John of the Cross and the anonymous writer of The Cloud of Unknowing.

Divine Dependency

Moving Beyond Illusions in Prayer

While I’m unsure how others practice kataphatic prayer, here’s my approach. During meditation, I strive to transcend the images that surface in my mind. In a relaxed state, I often experience dreamlike scenarios, and sometimes God strengthens my will to break free from these illusions.

Embracing the Unconventional

Allow me to illustrate. Recently, I envisioned myself walking down a hallway. By the grace of God, I felt empowered to make a choice: confront what lay ahead or bypass the scenario entirely. I chose the latter. Instead of continuing down the hallway, I passed through the wall and entered a new scene, pushing through even that one.

The further I delve, the more peculiar and captivating the scenarios become.

Encountering Negativity

If I persist, I face critical voices that question my journey. They ask, “Why pursue this? Do you think you can reach God? He doesn’t want to meet you.” These doubts make me chuckle; they reaffirm that I’m on the right path.

Finding Solace in Christian Mysticism

Transitioning from Negativity to Positivity

I shift from kataphatic to apophatic prayer. In other words, I remind myself of God’s true nature and essence.

The Power of Love

The statement “God is love” functions like a hammer, shattering negativity encountered in prayer. Love is the ultimate force that binds and fortifies the heart.

Cultivating the Virtue of Love

Reflecting on love's significance, I asked God, “If love is so powerful, why request anything else?” What’s the purpose of prayer intentions? Rather than asking for specific things, I could simply request that love flourishes in the souls of those I pray for.

The Need for Specific Prayer

I began to ponder whether specificity in prayer is necessary. Is there value in naming individuals? Why not pray broadly for love to grow universally? I presented these inquiries to God, and over several days, I felt a growing desire to be more intentional and structured in my prayer life.

Engaging Both Sides of My Brain in Prayer

I’ve come to realize that God wants me to engage both hemispheres of my brain while praying. The left side, which likes structure and specifics, can become overly rigid if allowed to dominate. Conversely, the right side nurtures my faith, appreciating the nuances of life beyond binary choices, and embraces the inclusive nature of my beliefs.

This side of my brain understands that God knows everything and that I don’t need to detail every aspect of my life. It comprehends mercy and reassures me that it’s acceptable if I forget someone in prayer.

A Desire to Remember

I want to keep track of my specific intentions as they provide direction and help me recall the names of those I cherish. I gather with my brothers five times a day to pray the psalms and say two rosaries daily. What if I used these moments to remember both general love and specific individuals in my life?

A Wave of Inspiration

I realized I could utilize my scheduled prayer times to remember everyone I love. I could designate prayer slots for my monastery brothers, students, family, friends, and others I encounter online or learn about through various platforms.

This practice will foster a more outward focus, ultimately nurturing the love I seek.

Organizing My Prayer Life with a Calendar App

My calendar app allows me to create sub-calendars that I can display or hide as needed. I set up a blue sub-calendar titled “prayers.” Now, my work commitments appear in red, while my prayer-related tasks show in blue.

Matching prayer times with specific intentions adds a layer of intrigue to my practice. As I pray, I can align psalm verses with the individuals I’m praying for, enriching my experience.

Given that we cycle through the 150 psalms over four weeks, each prayer session has its unique essence. It feels like a collaborative dialogue with the Holy Spirit about each individual, exploring next steps together.

The imagery within the psalms—those lively calves, cherubim, kings, and olive trees—guides me toward distinct insights about those in my prayer focus. I’ve programmed the prayers to repeat weekly, ensuring the same individuals appear in my app at consistent intervals, and I eagerly anticipate the insights this practice will yield over time.

A Simple Practice for Everyone

As I refined this system, it dawned on me that others might find it beneficial too. To begin, just create a recurring event in your calendar app, entering a person’s name or a cause, such as the war in Ukraine. When the time arrives, offer a brief mental prayer regarding your intention. Over time, your capacity for love will expand, and the Holy Spirit will fill your heart with insights and compassion.