www.vocation.com - Shouldn't prayer be something we do all day long?

	Adam asks: I recently read your article on meditation and how you said that one should set a time aside to meditate. Don't you think that people should be in a constant meditation throughout the day? I mean, you have to try constantly for the first month or two and you seem like you are all spaced out and then one day you don't have to think about doing it and it is there with you 24-7. It's great. I am in constant prayer wherever and whenever I may be. I started doing that for as long as I can remember and, now that I'm 18, it has been the most powerful strength for me to rely on through good and bad times. Don't you think we should encourage people to find a way to be in constant prayer throughout the day?
	Dear Adam, You have a very good point. St Paul told his first Christians to pray always. I think we are talking about two types of prayer. When you try to meditate, like when you go to Mass, you dedicate all your mind, all your heart and attention to it and it alone. That is one type of prayer, and it excludes doing anything else at the same time; as a matter of fact, we call thinking or doing anything else a distraction in this type of prayer (for example, it wouldn't seem right to bring your homework to church and do it during Mass, would it?). The other type of prayer, which I think you are talking about, is an awareness of God's presence, a bringing him into everything we do; a constant disposition of our soul to love, praise and obey him in everything; a constant desire and seeking to be like Christ in everything, etc... and, certainly, we should strive to live in that climate of prayer always. Keep up both types of prayer, Adam, and try always to do what will please God most.


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