St Ambrose expressed these sentiments: Jesus urged us to pray earnestly and frequently, not offering long and wearisome prayers, but praying often, and with perseverance. Note these words: Lengthy prayers are usually filled with empty words, while neglect of prayer results in indifference to prayer.
Prayer has never been broadcast as an easy experience. But Ambrose's understanding of Jesus' teaching, gives a wonderful reason why we should not think that the best prayer is necessarily long prayer. As he wrote, earnest and frequent prayer is what Jesus recommended for good prayer.
He also included in these remarks about prayer an explanation of the phrase the Apostle Paul uses: to pray go into your room. "Room" is not your bedroom, your living room, your study necessarily. "Room" is that room that is within you. It is the inner space where you hide what you are thinking. Your room is where you harbor your affections. So, what does this mean about how we pray? It means we can pray almost anywhere. My room of prayer is wherever I take the time to open my mind and heart to God. The garden by the priest's residence. The church. The chapel in the priest's residence. Sitting in my car, caught in DC traffic (a great way to stay calm!!). Walking along the reservoir, watching the various birds drawn to the water. Looking at books that have pictures of flowers. Just today, while at Barnes & Noble, I was looking at a coffee table book about the Potomac River. Just staring at some of the picture, suddenly I found myself talking to God about how beautiful nature is and what a gift it is to us. All of about 5 minutes. Short and sweet. What a way to make the intimacy with Jesus a reality.
