Do you treat your prayer life like a chore? Many of us find ourselves treating it like a checklist. However, prayer isn’t just about completing a task. Rather, it is about responding to God. Dr. Edward Sri goes in depth on this topic and explains what is really at the heart of prayer.
Snippet from the Show
Prayer is not about a performance. It is about responding to the thirst of Jesus for your soul.
Shownotes
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 2560
“If you knew the gift of God!” The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being. It is he who first seeks us and asks us for a drink. Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God’s desire for us. Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God’s thirst with ours. God thirsts that we may thirst for him.”
The Samaritan Woman (John 4:4-26)
He had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” [The woman] said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the well is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.”
Practical Tips for Prayer
- Specific Time – block off time in your calendar.
- Specific Place – decide on a concrete place to pray.
- Specific Plan – make a plan for what you will do in your prayer time.
When You Pray: A Clear Path to a Deeper Relationship with God
You know prayer is important but still find it challenging. Perhaps it’s hard to find time, or you’re unsure what to do when you pray. Or maybe you feel discouraged by your weaknesses and your inability to overcome them.
If you have any of these feelings, you are not alone. Many of the saints struggled in prayer. They were like us. But each time they fell, they got up again and learned to rely more on God’s grace.
What God did in the lives of countless saints, he wants to do in the lives of ordinary people like us. And that’s what this study is about: the journey of prayer God wants to take us on.
Authored and presented by Dr. Edward Sri, When You Pray also features Fr. Jacques Philippe, Fr. Josh Johnson, Fr. Gregory Pine, Sister Josephine Garrett, Fr. Donald Haggerty, and Sister Maris Stella.
Upcoming Events with Dr. Sri
- Jan 12-13: Diocese of Evansville Eucharistic Congress – Evansville IN
- Jan 18-28: Holy Land Pilgrimage
- Jan 31: St. Thomas More Parish Marriage Talk – Centennial CO
- Feb 9-10: St. Vincent de Paul Parish Renewal Weekend – Austin TX
- Feb 15: St. Rita Parish Mission – Wellington FL
- Feb 16-17: Archdiocese of St. Louis Men’s Conference – St. Louis MO
- Feb 21: St. Anna’s Catholic Church – Parish Lenten Mission – Monroe GA
- Feb 22: Holy Trinity Catholic Church – Parish Lenten Mission – Peachtree City GA
- Mar 1-2: Annual Diocesan Conference – Laredo TX
- Mar 8-9: Catholic Men’s Conference of Maryland – Baltimore MD
- Mar 13-14: St. Michael Catholic Church Parish Mission – St. Michael MN
- Mar 15: Bishop Lucker Lecture for Diocese of New Ulm – Redwood Falls MN
- Mar 20-21: St. Louis Catholic Church Parish Mission – Miami FL
- Apr 5-6: Diocese of Charleston Eucharistic Congress – Columbia SC
- Apr 19-20: Diocesan Eucharistic Congress – Altoona-Johnstown PA
- June 20-23: St. Patrick Catholic Church – Summer Summit – London, England
- June 23-July 1: Rome Pilgrimage
- July 19-20: 2024 National Eucharistic Congress – Indianapolis IN
- Aug 10: Discipleship Conference – Oklahoma City OK
- Aug 23-24: Diocesan Faith Formation Conference – Tulsa OK
- Sept 21: 2024 Annual Meeting and Investiture of the Northern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem – Denver CO
- Oct 3: Diocese of Harrisburg Annual Priest Workshop – Hunt Valley MD
Resources
- Visit Dr. Sri’s website at www.edwardsri.com and to book online events with Dr. Sri email events.edwardsri@gmail.com
- Find more of Dr. Sri’s episodes at www.ascensionpress.com/allthingscatholic
- Ascension is pleased to offer our new and improved online bible study programs and sacramental preparation programs digitally to help you minister with flexibility. Go to www.ascensionpress.com to view all our offerings
Dr. Edward Sri is a theologian, well-known Catholic speaker, and author of several best-selling books. His work with Ascension includes study programs such as A Biblical Walk Through the Mass, No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk Through Christ’s Passion and Mary: A Biblical Walk with the Blessed Mother. Several of Dr. Sri’s programs were filmed on-site in the Holy Land, and feature immersive video explorations of the sacred sites where Jesus, Mary, and the Apostles lived and died.
Dr. Sri is the host of the acclaimed Ascension podcast All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri. Together with Curtis Martin, Dr. Sri is a founding leader of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), of which he serves as senior vice president of Apostolic Outreach.
Dr. Sri lives with his wife Beth and their children in Colorado.
