New Year's Resolution/Wish for 2007: Prayer

Published December 30, 2006

IN THEORY

New Year's Resolution/Wish for 2007

Q:

What's your New Year's resolution/wish for 2007?

A:

If anything, I wish for more prayer in my life. It seems like everything is progressing in fast motion these days. It's hard to believe that we're seven years into the new century. (Seems like yesterday that we were cautiously anticipating Y2K?) And life has become very cluttered with "stuff" to do. Multi-tasking has become the norm rather than the exception to the day's activities.

Prayer is a means of focusing, of prioritizing and then attacking life head-on. It's an incredible tool which is so underrated, perhaps because it is misconstrued as a conversation with God rather than a multidimensional exchange of thought and energy. Jesus teaches that our prayers should not only be conversations with the Divine but also with ourselves. In fact, one of the Orthodox teachings on prayer emphasizes Christ's caution to not heap "empty phrases... for your Father knows what you need before you ask him." (Matthew 6.7-8) Clearly, if God knows our needs, then the purpose of prayer is for us - ourselves - to recognize what is important in life. Once we prioritize, then we are able to efficiently deal with what life throws at us.

On the eve of 2007, it is disheartening to note the many problems facing our world and our society. We enter the New Year with war, poverty and disease all around us. It is overwhelming. And so my wish for 2007 is that we pray, realizing that prayer should awaken our sense of responsibility toward the world we live in.

FATHER VAZKEN MOVSESIAN
Armenian Church
In His Shoes Mission