-from the Cloud of Unknowing, fourteenth century, author unknown
What are we up to when we pray? Are we petitioning God for things we want or need, like a child on Santa’s knee? Are we simply giving lip service to God, saying words we hope he wants to hear? Prayer, while it is the single most essential discipline in the practice of our faith is also the single most ill-used and badly observed part of the life of the Church. There are many different styles and forms of prayer available to us, there are quiet, contemplative prayers, there are raucous, praise-filled forms that might send us shouting from rooftops but there is one underlying theme to these types of prayer, communication with God.
The two ends of the spectrum towards which we draw ourselves when we think of prayer are either viewing it as intimidating and arcane or mundane and obligatory. The first comes from low spiritual self-esteem. We don’t feel worthy or able to pray as we ought. We essentially do not realize that we have been “conformed by grace to the image and likeness of God.” We have a guilty conscience, which is one thing from which true understanding of our salvation and the power of Christ’s sacrifice should free us. This misunderstanding does not show humility on our part but lack of recognition for God’s grace. Prayer at it’s core is not something that we do it is something that God allows us to do, we can communicate with God, not because we can speak loud enough but because he is great enough to listen and hear us. There is a book by Dr. Seuss called Horton Hears a Who. Horton is an elephant that, one day, hears a distress call from a microscopic being called a Who living on a tiny speck of dust. Horton hears the Who not because the Who speaks loudly but because of his incredibly sensitive ears. So God hears our prayers not because our prayers are wonderful and eloquent but because of God’s incredibly sensitive ears.
On the other end of the spectrum prayer can become empty if we begin to take for granted that God will hear and begin to spout empty prayers. Strangely enough, the more time you spend thinking about what to say and arranging prayers to sound eloquent and wonderful the more danger you are in of falling into this trap. In the Dr. Seuss book, all the Whos down in Whoville must band together to shout loud enough for someone besides Horton to hear them. This is in some sense the same situation we find ourselves in as we are called to pray en masse. Not that we need someone besides God to hear but it is a reminder and an indicator that we have not taken for granted our capacity to speak to God. We pray together to build our faith. We pray, as it were, loud, to wake ourselves up not to get God’s attention.
When you pray remember that God hears you, because as Horton the elephant says, “people are people no matter how small.” When you pray, even if you are saying “God is great, God is good” before a meal, remember that God is listening because he cares and because we are “conformed by grace” at all times, even when we’re hungry. When you begin with the words, “Our Father, who art in heaven,” remember that you are talking to a real God who is listening ever so carefully. Allow that awareness to saturate your being. Allow the words that he taught us with his very own lips to penetrate your soul and bring into the presence of God. Whatever you do, just pray.
