Prayer and the Interruptions of Love

"We love because He first loved us." — 1 John 4:19

“Be still and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

Introduction

We often limit prayer to a set of words, a precise formula, or quiet moments of retreat. But the essence of prayer is not speech or solitude; it is the far deeper movement of love between God and the soul.

Love as Union

Jesus told us that the most important thing was loving God. Now, God does not lack anything. He has no unmet needs. So, we love Him by uniting our will to His.

Prayer is the groaning of our soul as it seeks union with Him. This is the very Spirit within us,

who, as Scripture says, intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. It begins like a mewling babe searching for milk, and like that babe, it grows stronger in the bond of love.

“To love is to unite our will to God’s.”

Love is a mysterious thing. We use our intellect and our bodies to express what is deepest within us, yet we struggle to express what is most fundamental to our being.

To Love and Be Loved

We grope after God, making our own feeble attempts to raise our minds to Him. But if we stay with it long enough, we come to a realization. It is not that we must learn to express love better. It is that our love becomes the way we allow ourselves to be loved. It sounds backward, but it is true. We love in order to be loved. “We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

This is not a transaction but a participation. When we love God, we enter into the movement of His own divine life, a love that flows eternally between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and overflows into creation itself.

“Love is not earned; it is received.”

To love is to join the rhythm of that self-giving love, to become a vessel through which it continues to pour into the world.

Opening the Heart

Perhaps the hardest part is not the giving of love, but the receiving of it, especially in our unlovable moments. We are forced to confront our own flaws in front of a merciful Lord. Prayer exposes the false belief that being loved depends on our worth, our importance, or our achievements. But love is never about these things. Prayer reminds us that true love is not earned; it is given.

Prayer opens us to being loved. God already loves us, always. Our prayers prepare our hearts to receive that love, and in doing so, they change us for the better. This openness makes His love personal for us.

The Holy Interruption

Our prayers take many forms, but perhaps the most personal are the interruptions of daily life: the cry of a sick child, the spouse who needs our full attention, the poor, the hungry, the wounded who cross our path.

The world calls these distractions, but grace calls them invitations. Every interruption of love mirrors the great interruption of God Himself, who entered our world, took on flesh, and offered His life for us. The Word became flesh, and our routines were forever broken open by love.

“The world calls them distractions; grace calls them invitations.”

These interruptions are not obstacles to prayer; they are prayer. The sacrifice of our time for others becomes the sacrifice of love for God. These two are not in conflict but in beautiful harmony. Through them, our lives become Eucharistic, a continual thanksgiving offering of love received and love given.

The Freedom of Love

We began by saying that to love God is to unite our will to His. If we consider carefully, we see that a life lived in love is a constant prayer offered to our Lord. It is mercy and sacrifice. There is no greater love than that.

Perhaps the most perfect prayer is when we deny ourselves, when we stop what we are doing in that moment and give ourselves away. We give ourselves to God, and in doing so, we give ourselves to our neighbor.

This self-denial is our ultimate freedom, the freedom of the children of God. It allows us to become conduits of the eternal love that began with God and continues through us into the world. This is the life of constant prayer.