Alan Fadling: Notes from my Unhurried Journey

Recently, I’ve begun reading through the works of Teresa of Avila, beginning with her Life. While there have been some counsels and ideas that I cannot in good conscience embrace, the paragraph below was a word from God through Teresa to me this morning:

“[Life 8:5]…in spite of any wrong they who practice prayer do, they must not abandon prayer since it is the means by which they can remedy the situation; and to remedy it without prayer would be much more difficult. May the devil not tempt them, the way he did me, to give up prayer out of humility.” (Teresa of Avila. The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila Volume 1. Second Edition. Trans. Kieran Kavanaugh. Washington, D.C.: ICS Publications, 1987, p. 96).

Perhaps like me you’ve often heard the little adage: “Either prayer will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from prayer.” The twist that Teresa puts on this idea is that we are sometimes tempted to give up prayer out of a misplaced humility that says, “God shouldn’t have to put up with my sinful self coming to Him”, or “I’ve fallen so short of what I intended or God requested. Perhaps when I make things right, I’ll return to communion with God.”

Teresa urges us to continue in prayer, especially when we become aware of our shortcomings or line-crossings. As branches, we abide in Christ the True Vine on the basis of His generous invitation and not on the basis of an exemplary moral or spiritual performance. It is abiding that enables me to find strength to resist temptations or to engage fruitfully in the kingdom work to which I’ve been appointed.

For reflection: What actions (or inactions) in your life have become a temptation for you to distance yourself from the Father out of misguided (and false) humility? How might you return to the Father from the very place you find yourself now?