The Discipline of unceasing prayer
Catechism Commentary 66
In 1 Cor 9:25, St Paul said, “Every athlete in training submits to strict discipline, in order to be crowned with a wreath that will not last; but we do it for one that will last for ever.” The word for training in Greek is áskēsis, which originally meant "exercise" or "training." The Christian word asceticism is derived from it and refers to the disciplines necessary to lead a Godly life, e.g., by praying regularly with perseverance, integrity and attention to the person, word and will of God. Here are a number of reasons why many people are distracted from being able to do this.
1] Attention deficit disorder. As poet T. S. Eliot said, many people are “distracted from distraction by distraction,” e.g., by hopping from one topic to another e.g., on the social media.
2] One can be distracted during prayer by living in the past as a result of memories, and by living in the future, as a result of imagined fears, when we know that God is only really encountered in the present.
3] Whereas most people have positive ideas of God as merciful and loving, often as a result of their past experiences, they have negative images of God, e.g., as being distant, demanding, hard to please and quick to punish. No wonder people have trouble praying to such a God.
4] No consolation when praying. This kind of spiritual depression, which is called desolation of spirits, means that one gets no emotional satisfaction from prayer. As a result, one is tempted to throw in the towel and to stop praying. Saints like Ignatius of Loyola, say that it is important to make an act of will to keep praying. Consolation will return in God’s good time.
5] A bad conscience, as a result of serious unrepented sin, can be another obstacle to a sense of prayerful intimacy with God.
6] The devil can exploit the points already mentioned to distract a person from prayer. At times like that, one can carry out the advice of Jm 4:7, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
On at least four separate occasions, the New Testament tells us to pray continuously, e.g., (Lk 18:1).
Unceasing prayer can be understood as the liturgy of the heart, the praying voice of the Spirit within, who aspires to the God beyond, “Abba Father” (Rm 8:15; Gal 4:6), whether we are consciously aware of that prayer or not.
Unceasing prayer can also be looked at as a form of action: a handing over the fruits of contemplation to others, principally by means of preaching, teaching and good works.
Unceasing prayer can be understood as an on-going desire to know the person word and will of God. As St Augustine wrote: “For desire never ceases to pray even though the tongue be silent. If ever desiring, then ever praying.”
Unceasing prayer can also be seen as the permanent state of loving. The Christian life is essentially a loving response to the love of God. So, it could be said that to pray is to love God and to love God in the neighbour.
