Less talk, more listening

“There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer. And coming forward at that very time, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-40)

In Jesus’ time, marriage usually occurred fairly early, certainly by the time a woman was eighteen years old. (Some theologians claim that Mary may have been only fourteen or fifteen years of age when pregnant with Jesus!)  The Gospel says that Anna lived seven years with her husband after marriage.  That means she became a widow at anywhere from the age of 22 to 25.  Then we’re told that she lived that way until she was eighty-four.  She never left the temple, but worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer for 60+ years!

What kind of prayers was Anna saying?  She didn’t have the “Our Father,” or “Hail Mary” prayers.  She didn’t have the rosary or novenas.  Perhaps she prayed the Psalms or used the prophet Isaiah.

It sounds like she “prayed always.”  But she didn’t have much else to do.  St. Paul exhorts us to “pray without ceasing,” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  But we live busy lives.  How can we pray without ceasing?

In Philippians St. Paul tells us, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Philippians 4:8).  That gives us the whole world as the content of our prayer.  And it reminds us that much of prayer is listening.  God speaks to us through creation.

In chapter 17 of John’s Gospel we have Jesus’ prayer to His Father at the Last Supper (John 17:1-26).  I sometimes wonder what His prayer was like when He was ten years old, or twenty. 

Jesus ate and drank, laughed, played, worked, slept, studied, and prayed; He experienced all the ordinary human activities that we experience.  That means that, when we come before our God to ask, to beg, to thank and to praise, we don’t have to explain ourselves.  We can feel confident that our God knows what we’re talking about.  He’s been here before us.  He knows what it’s like to be one of us.  Jesus was like us in all things but sin.  He must have been a master listener in prayer; His adult years were so focused on doing his Father’s will.

If God knows human life so thoroughly, perhaps we should spend less time talking and more time listening when we pray.

The purpose of prayer is union with God.  As St. John tells us, “God is love, and all those who live in love live in God and God in them.” (1 John, 4:16).  It doesn’t get any better than that.