INTO THE WILDERNESS

Ary Scheffer - The Temptation of Christ (1854)

"Here God and the devil struggle, and the battlefield is the human heart." - Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky

"As long as we live, we fight, and as long as we are fighting, that is a sign that we are not defeated and that the good Spirit dwells within us. And if death does not meet you as the victor, he should find you a warrior." - St. Augustine

Read:
Romans 8:26-28
Psalm 4
Mark 14:32-41

Study:
1) The Battle of Prayer; Lent: Period of Purification and Enlightenment; The Stations of the Cross

2) CCC 357, 2559, 2725-2745 (YOUCAT 505-510)

Meditate:
Why is there a struggle when we pray? Where does this struggle come from or what is it's cause? How does our struggle in prayer correlate with our struggle in life with evil, both involuntarily and voluntarily experienced? How does that struggle, as difficult as it is, help us focus on what is most important? Where and how can we find the help necessary to make our prayers meaningful and effective?

Pray:
My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and my God, detach me from myself to give my all to you. Amen.

Imitate:
St. Therese of Lisieux

Apply:
Do I pray when I know I should, even when I am tempted otherwise? Do I persevere in prayer when it is difficult to continue on?

Extra:
The Battle of Prayer
Bishop Barron on the Disorienting Quality of Real Prayer
Tips for Praying
The Power of Prayer
Praying in a State of Mortal Sin
Getting a Spiritual Director
No Spiritual Director? No Problem!
Spiritual Life Part I (Prayer)
Spiritual Life Part II (Mental Prayer)
Spiritual Life Part III (Obstacles in Prayer 1)
Spiritual Life Part IV (Obstacles in Prayer 2)
Spiritual Life Part V (Spiritual Reading)
Spiritual Life Part VI (Predominant Fault 1)
Spiritual Life Part VII (Predominant Fault 2)
Spiritual Life Part VIII (3 Stages of the Interior Life)
Spiritual Life Part IX (Grace)
Spiritual Life Part X (Actual Grace)

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Be gracious to me, and hear my prayer.