"The more a soul lowers itself in prayer, the more God rises." (St. Teresa of Avila)
Throughout Scripture there are many reminders of the need for followers of Christ to be "childlike". We are called to be humble and simple as to better serve our Lord. This is not always an easy task for us as we are often approaching God in constant motion; in tireless action of pursuit.
We are accustomed to acting and pursuing. We are surrounded by daily deadlines and lists of things to "accomplish". We may find ourselves accustomed to working for the tangible goals and merits of our works, which serve as the motivating factors of our pursuit. We have acquired a sense of action and expectation of merit for our tasks by the very nature of our worldly ambitions. We may come to believe that the harder one works the more merited and successful they become. The higher we climb the more we gain.
The incompatibility of this mindset within the spiritual life is undeniable. In order to attain the most merit of complete union with God we are called to pursue the nothingness of ourselves; we are called to relinquish expectation of merit by becoming humble obedient servants of God's will.
Only the humble will be able to see the Lord at work. We can not see "God rise" if we have set ourselves above Him. If we fail to lower ourselves in prayer and dismiss our need for God to take control, we do not allow Him the opportunity to work in our lives. We prevent ourselves from receiving the graces and fruits that our Lord yearns for us to have. We must not pursue but allow ourselves to be pursued by God. Let us all strive to lower ourselves daily in prayer and approach Him always with a humble and open heart. (C.C)
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