Welcome, dear friends! I suggest that you grab a writing implement, and while you watch the video, jot down some of the key ideas that strike you.

If you saw the movie Gravity, you might remember the scene where Sandra Bullock’s character laments, “I don’t know how to pray. Nobody taught me to pray.”

This isn’t a modern problem. Even the Apostles asked Jesus to teach them to pray. A lot of us are in the same boat. For a variety of reasons, we live in a poverty of prayer. We don’t know how. We don’t make time. We think prayer is something that happens in church. But without prayer, we rob ourselves of God’s presence in our lives. Put another way, we unplug ourselves from the spiritual power grid.

Fortunately, we can avoid the tragic consequences of the lack of prayer, because all of these problems are fixable, as I can attest. This past Lent, I decided I needed to do a better job of praying than always yapping at God’s ankles. The Holy Spirit stepped in and led me to some resources.

One, I went to a Taizé prayer service offered by our parish each Wednesday in Lent. Simple hymns, gospel readings, and a lovely chunk of silence. (Maybe you noticed “silence” as one of the requirements for growing spiritually. How often do you really get that? How often do you seek it? How much “noise”–like TV and radio–do you just accept as normal?) The Taizé sessions were so popular, we’re continuing them once a month throughout the year.

Second, silence is wonderful…if you know what to do when you get it. I got some practical help from our parish’s book discussion group focused on Matthew Kelly’s Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic.  Kelly’s book identifies four practices that distinguish the truly engaged Catholic from the average pew-sitter, and the absent Catholic. The first sign is Prayer. Kelly outlines a very simple ten-minute prayer process that anyone can do. You don’t even have to start out with all ten minutes, as long as you hit each of the steps. I think he knows that once you start, you’ll naturally grow into wanting all of those ten minutes, and maybe a little bit more. With the prayer process, silence and prayer grew into a daily, rather than a weekly, event.

Before I made a commitment to the prayer process, I used to pray all the time, but often felt like I was shouting against the wind. In hindsight, I think it was because it was all about petition. I’d forgotten how to “persevere in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Col 4:2). Now, my prayer life begins with gratitude–which makes a huge difference in my outlook all day long. I’m a little less yappy, a little more listening…more present to God, grateful for all His gifts, especially the Blessed Sacrament. And I’m not alone in finding the prayer process helpful. One of the women in my parish discussion group found that while she had always set aside some time for prayer, engaging in this process led to her praying more often throughout the day.

So, wherever you are in your prayer life, I believe this process can help you to move forward. I’m not going to explain the prayer process; I’d rather let Matthew Kelly do that. If you’re checking in on this blog, you’ve got to have at least a passing interest in deepening your spiritual life. I strongly encourage you to click on this link to dynamiccatholic.com. (I feel like I’m making a gift to you, and I hope you unwrap it.)

Real prayer, real worship…finding the “why” behind who we are and everything we do…can seem beyond our human grasp. But when we reach out to God, we’re not reaching into a vacuum. He’s right there, ready to help.

In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. (Romans 8:26)

It’s amazing what the Holy Spirit can do, if you give Him just ten minutes a day.

Now it’s your turn. What struck you as you watched the video? Care to share?