By Hal Green
Pondering Prayer
Among the most haunting words of Scripture are those of Psalm 73:25-26. After wondering why the wicked prosper, God shows the psalmist that they will be swept away at the end. The psalmist realizes then how ignorant and foolish he has been, and that God has been with him all the time, even holding on to and upholding him in secret. He realizes how important God is to him.
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26).
Imagine God as the strength of your heart. Sense how intimate these words are, addressing God one to one, God having granted you permission to pray this way. What is more private than personal prayer? When you enter into your quiet, inner prayer space, be grateful that what transpires is strictly between you and God. No one but God hears, knows and loves you in your totality — your past, your present and your future. That God loves you now means God, knowing the future, loves you forever, including who you are becoming. Embrace the faith that everything will end up being fine, eternally so.
Realize that God will be your “portion forever.” I remember walking along a beach on the west coast of Florida with my wife some years ago. The sun was setting and both of us were looking for interesting shells to take back to our home in landlocked Iowa. Kitty was about 10 yards ahead of me. I stopped and looked west, at the glorious setting sun above the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. There was a shimmering path of slowly darkening rays of reddish orange seemingly between me and the sun, as if for just that moment the two of us were in a silent “I-You” connection.
Then I looked ahead at my wife and asked her to stop and wait for me to catch up to her. Once together, I looked to the setting sun and, sure enough, she seemed to have the same one-to-one audience with the sun. Next I imagined what it would be like if the beach were long enough for all of humanity to be standing there gazing at the setting sun. We would each have our private moment with the sun, at the same time. So it is with our astounding God: we can and do have private audiences simultaneously with the God who is our destined portion, forever. How God can do this for us all is beyond me; but then, so is God.
(Hal Green, Ph.D., is author of Pray This Way to Connect with God. You can contact him at drhalgreen@gmail.com.)
More from the Catholic Messenger
