I am trying to develop the habit of rash prayer. My theory is that if I could pray as fast as I might judge someone that I would be stepping in the right direction on the road to holiness. I might observe someone’s actions or read a news story and instantly I have framed the motives for the action of the person or persons involved, sometimes I then remember to pray. I don’t mean rash in the sense of ill-considered haste but in it’s meaning as boldness. Usually I have what I call the “binocular effect”; if I look through the binoculars at someone else’s sins they are magnified but if I look through the front of the binoculars towards my own sins they are reduced and minimized. This is exactly backwards and the Saints demonstrated the correct view over and over in again in regards to themselves and others. Sometimes I feel like such a hypocrite when I do remember to pray for others. When I think about the lumberyard in my own eyes it makes it difficult to do what all of us are called to. To pray for others you must do it based on a foundation of personal prayer and openness to grace. Lord give me the grace to put down the stone and walk away.
