When it comes to prayer in the family, we'd all like our prayer time to be blissfully easy and happy. We imagine everyone willingly coming together each evening in peace to pray deeply, loving God and loving one another, as our perfectly behaved children lead an entire Rosary, sing songs of praise to God, kiss us on the cheek, hug one another, and then rush off to the bathroom because they can't wait to floss and fall immediately asleep.
Isn't that how it always works out?
Well, don't worry if prayer at home doesn't mimic heaven, because while the family is the most important prayer group, it is also the most difficult of all. God doesn't expect our family prayer group to be perfect, but he expects us to try. As Mother Theresa of Calcutta said, “God has not called me to be successful; He has called me to be faithful."
You've probably heard Father Patrick Peyton's message, "A family that prays together stays together." Well, it's true. Prayer is the most important thing a family could ever do. It heals differences, melts resentments, solves problems, gives answers, and brings peace and love back into the hearts of everyone.
Prayer is the glue that keeps a family together, helps it pass through rough waters without drowning, and prevents terrible problems from ever starting in the first place. Please know that you cannot expect the Spirit of God to rush into the heart of your family—unless He's invited in. The Holy Spirit doesn't usually come unbidden. But God is always knocking, and it is through prayer that He bursts open the doors and windows of your home.
To encourage family prayer, it is good to consider the spiritual environment of the home. Is it conducive to inviting God in? There are so many ways to bring faith into our homes — pray the Rosary, dive into a Scripture passage, read a holy book, enact a Gospel scene, learn from a Catholic video or song, celebrate a feast day with a special meal. To more fully benefit from whatever form of prayer you have chosen to implement, it is good to your home must be a domestic church.
You may have noticed that it is easier to pray at a monastery than at a rock concert. The atmosphere makes a huge difference. Some homes invite you to think of God, and other homes invite you to think of worldly things, with the invitation to plop down in front of the T.V., play video games, or some other worldly distraction. What does the atmosphere of your home invite you to do?
Create a living space that is healing and full of God's love and light. Look out for anything in your home that might take the minds and hearts of your family away from the Lord.
Let's step back and evaluate what we're exposing our kids to. What we read, or don't read, for instance, can change the course of your and your children's lives. St. Pio once said,
The harm that comes to souls from the lack of reading holy books makes me shudder. . .What power spiritual reading has to lead to a change of course, and to make even worldly people enter into the way of perfection.
If something is in your life or in your home that is not of God, and you have any say in the matter, throw it out. By the way, I don't mean your spouse or your kids. Have your home blessed and fill it with blessed objects. Bring in the light! Put up holy images. Have a Bible on display—one that you actually read [wink]. Put up crucifixes, images of the Blessed Mother or the saints—anything that draws you toward the Light, so that when you walk into your room or house, your soul is flooded with the Holy Spirit, and when it comes time for your family to pray, the very atmosphere reminds you of God.
