Recently, I was invited to speak to a group of third graders on the importance of prayer. The request came from their teacher who suggested I might “put the fear of God in them.” I chuckled and replied, “I think you have the wrong deacon!” But I agreed to visit and they seemed very receptive to my presentation.
“Who likes parties?” I began. I told them that Jesus liked parties and, in fact, did his first miracle at a wedding reception. I then mentioned that Cheryl and I had attended a wedding and reception on Saturday, and how we were pleased to receive an invitation, eagerly checked our calendar to see if we had any conflicts, made the decision to attend and RSVP’d in the affirmative. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was elegant, with music and dancing. We sat with people we did not know very well but by the time we left we were calling each other by name, sharing photos of our cats, etc. …
Now you may be wondering, when did I talk to the kids about prayer?
I reminded these young, eager faces that prayer is about speaking AND listening. That we tell our friends about ourselves and we listen to them speak about themselves. When we do this with God, we call it praying.
And just as when we are invited to a party, we need to know the date, time and address, so too, when Jesus invites us to be his friends and one day come to his banquet in heaven, we need to know where we are going and how to get there.
If we don’t talk with Jesus on a regular basis, he may think we don’t want to be his friend any more, or have moved away and are no longer interested in coming to his party. Without the directions listed in the invitation, we may take the wrong bus and end up someplace we didn’t want to go.
“Like Hell?” One young listener asked.
“Yes!”, I concurred. “But we don’t want that. So, pray every day.”
Jesus began his day and ended it with prayer. He prayed for his friends. His family and even for those he met for the first time at a party, on the street or even standing beside the local well.
As followers of Jesus, we should make a habit of being people of prayer -- praying for those we know, whom we love and for those strangers we encounter each and every day. Pray for our pets and all of God’s creation. And don’t forget to pray for yourself.
And when we pray, prayer draws us closer to God and to one another. Prayer has the ability to change lives. To bring hope, joy and healing. And it pleases our heavenly Father when we express our trust and faith in his son, Jesus, through prayer.
So, strive to get into the habit of “praying without ceasing.”
If we dedicate each day to the Lord and everything that we do in it, our entire life becomes a prayer of gratitude to God. And when that invitation arrives to attend the heavenly banquet – THE Party of all eternity -- we just might find that our names are listed as honored guests, chosen to sit at the head table along with the Holy Spirit and witness the outpouring of perfect love as the Father honors his Son and the Son glorifies his Father.
Deacon John DeGano is assigned to St. Catherine of Alexandria Parish in Riverside.