What is Prayer?

So, as you all may know, I was discerning transferring to a different college. While I had many good and  attractive reasons for choosing to transfer, I decided to stay at UD. The conundrum hasn't gone away - UD still feels like home, Franciscan still has its attractions - but one word convinced me to stay. That one words is stability.
No, God didn't write "stability" in the clouds and I figured my whole future out. It came through listening. I listened to those who knew me really well, I listened to those who knew the schools well, and I listened to those who didn't quite know either, and in the end there was a consistency to what I was hearing. I need stability. Anyway, so long story short, I'm staying at UD but will be spending next semester studying abroad in Rome for 5 months. :) I feel that living in close proximity to the Vatican is a pretty good trade.

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I've been thinking a lot about what prayer is. I found that I was putting prayer in a box. Not just any box, but a very small, cramped box. Prayer was just yearning to break out. I'll share a little snippet of revelation that God gave me. I found that prayer is beyond traditional prayers, prayers written by the Fathers of the Church, or even the prayers of the liturgy. It is so much more.

Prayer is....

stopping to appreciate the beauty of God's creation ...

using the wealth that God has provided through his creation in sustainable ways...

conversations with friends while walking together ...

spending time with those you love ...

Prayer breaks through the box that we give it, and the words that we set it to. Prayer reaches into the depths of our hearts and is brought forth. It is soaked in emotion, in the inexpressable moments of our lives. It takes what we fail to and lifts it towards God ... even when we say nothing at all. Prayer is the Hand of God, reaching out and grasping ours, saying "I have the love you've been looking for and it is yours". Prayer is messy. Prayer is real. Prayer is love.
Prayer is.