Beginning of a Prayer: Love is the heart of Prayer. We need to understand that prayer comes from faith. Faith in God. The prayer of an unbeliever seems strange. What is it aimed at? Who hears such a prayer and who should respond to such a prayer? After all, an unbeliever thinks that there is no God. He does not believe in God.
But what is the core of faith? What is it actually about?
Well, the answer is pretty simple: the goal of all of our lives is to love God. To build a relationship with Him. To get to know Him and to like Him. Actually every human relationship, every friendship and every love relationship is only a reflection of what happens between God and man. But if you only know faith as an intellectual agreement to certain beliefs – if you don’t know the relationship to the living God – you can also infer God from interpersonal events.
Beginning of a Prayer
So how do you start praying? Let’s look at the human relationship world: How do you start loving? How do relationships start? The answer: by being open, looking, hearing and perceiving. By not closing ourselves off. By humbly accepting that we are indeed lovable.
Because loving is not primarily a giving. If you want to be open to a relationship, you have to be ready to be taken; responding to others – accepting what is happening.
Even prayer is not talking and talking and talking again. Prayer is the response to what God is doing. Prayer is answer. When we pray in the morning that is the answer to God’s protection at night. And when we pray before we eat, we give thanks because God helps us not to starve. When we pray in the evening, it is in response to what we experienced during the day.
Prayer arises when we relate what is happening to us. God makes the sun rise – for my sake. (Can you accept that?) God shows me His love by having someone smile at me. (Does God really mean me ?!) Prayer begins with opening our eyes – and discovering His testimonies of love (don’t I just imagine that ?!). Prayer means: opening the heart, hearing, looking and perceiving.
In the Bible, in the book of Samuel, we find a wonderful story about the beginning of prayer: God is calling little Samuel. (1 Samuel 3:1-10) He doesn’t feel addressed at all; don’t know who’s talking, don’t even believe that God does something like that, thinks he isn’t meant.
Master Eli helps him: “Samuel – you are more important than you think. God means you. Not me, the Master. Listen – just believe it is God. Don’t be too self-critical – God finds you so lovable that He starts a conversation with you.”
Love is the Heart of Prayer
Dear sisters and brothers, prayer begins with an open eyes and an open ears. And the recognition that prayer is not just something for priests, monks and saints but something for everyone.
There is only one requirement: the person who wants to pray must also be ready to love. This can change your whole life. Amen.
