I’ve had a couple interesting dialogues recently with friends about prayer. In one of these cases, the friend was considering using content from page 54 and 55 of Peace at the Edge of Uncertainty in a sermon he was putting together, and wanted my permission to use the content. In the other case, a good and hearty conversation just got around to the subject.
Prayer fascinates me. People “use†prayer for many purposes. Some of these purposes seem manipulative and evil to me, some more than a little selfish, but for the most part people view prayer as a way to reach out and try to connect with G-d. A truly honorable and noble pursuit.
Prayer might become a much more meaningful part of our lives if we could look at our “prayer behavior†and our motives, and segregate out our uses of prayer in order to make each more effective. I think when we use prayer as a public proclamation of our Faith, we’re generally pretty good at it. When we use it to prove to ourselves and others how righteous we are, I think we’re pretty good at it.
But when it comes to the really deep and meaningful stuff – the stuff where we’re trying to open our soul to a connection with G-d – I think too many of us are intimidated and unsure.
I wonder if the key to connective prayer is to give up the notion of praying to G-d, and instead to view prayer as a simple connection with G-d.
It’s not a message or a request, it’s a connection. One soul connects to the Source Of All, becoming both receptacle and conduit for Divine Energy, creative and healing.
Not talking from and to, but being with.
