Prayer

What's Your Next Step? Make John the Baptist a Model of Prayer!

The season of Advent revolves around two central figures: Mary, the mother of God, and John the Baptist, also known as John the Precursor or John theForerunner. (We'll get to Mary next week.) This Sunday's gospel reading uses the words of Isaiah the prophet to describe John's mission:  "Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight his paths." John dedicated his adult life to the work of preparing Israel for the day that God would appear in their midst. John lived simply, wearing a single garment and eating only foods available in thewilderness. He made his own life uncomplicated, undistracted, ready. John made a straight, level, easy path for the Jesus to begin his ministry to Israel.

• Take a minute and think of one or two things that you can do to prepare yourself to enter into God's presence. We can apply the command to "prepare the way of the Lord" and to "make straight his paths" to our life of prayer. Before we can pray, we must prepare a place and clear a time. Following John the Baptist, we must adjust our daily lives so that we are ready to stand in the presence of the Lord.

John lived in the desert, a wild and empty place, a fitting image of the human soul. John let himself hope ardently for the coming of the Messiah, and he did this by refusing to be satisfied by anything less than what God provided. When our lives are cluttered and our minds distracted, we are unable to hope -- yet the essence of prayer is hope, desire, longing. 

• Take another minute and search your heart for any signs of emptiness, dissatisfaction, unease. Then, instead of rejecting such phenomena as a indication of something wrong wrong with you, recognize in them a sign of something right: a space for hope, for desire, for God. Advent is about longing. Imitate John the Baptist by cultivating a sense of desire for something that only God can give -- the mysterious and infinite beauty of God.

When the Messiah finally appears, John wastes no time in identifying him. He makes himself available to Jesus, but then he is stunned when Jesus makes an absurd request: "John, baptize me, just as you have baptized all these other sinners." Because John obeys, Jesus can begin his ministry. By creating space for the Lord and cultivating an attitude of ardent longing, John can recognize Jesus and becomes an instrument in God's plan for recreating the world.

• Take a final minute and make yourself available to God. Like John theBaptist, place no specific expectations on when or how God will appear; simply wait, watch, and long for God, making yourself ready to heed theWord when it comes. This is the essence of Christian prayer. And it's what Advent is all about.