Many of us experience prayer as a dialogue which we initiate. We set aside time and go to a specific place and begin the dialogue. We wait to see if God will respond, if God will answer our prayers. But in fact it is always God who initiates the dialogue. It is God who prompts us to seek him; it is God who awakens our hearts to desire to know and do God’s will. So prayer is actually a conversation that God initiates, and therefore our primary posture in prayer is to be one of attentive listening. Rather than asking ourselves how and when we’re going to find the time to pray today, we might better ask ourselves how and when God is going to speak to us today – will it be in a quiet moment, through a conversation with a friend, in the words of Scripture or the liturgy, through the wonders of the natural world? Our role is to be attentive, to be watching and listening throughout the day for God’s presence and activity. Without this kind of attentiveness, we might miss the burning bush altogether.
Br. David Vryhof, SSJE
Listening for the Call of God
