Prayer of the Heart
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Prayer of the Heart
We are not, in other words, even the author of our own prayer life. It is the goodness of God, not any virtue that we have developed on our own, that brings us to the heart of God. And it is with God’s help we seek to go there.
Joan Chittister • The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century (Spiritual Legacy Series)
Mercy is a way to describe the mystery of forgiveness. More than a description of something God does now and then, it is who God is . According to Jesus, “Mercy is what pleases me, not sacrifice” (Matthew 9:13, 12:7). The word is hesed in Hebrew, and it means steadfast, enduring, unbreakable love. Sometimes the word is translated as “lovingkindness... See more
Richard Rohr • Receiving God’s Mercy
In short, one must pray: not fitfully, not simply in the manner of a suppliant seeking aid or of a penitent seeking absolution but also according to the disciplines of infused contemplation, with real constancy of will and a patient openness to grace, suffering states of both dereliction and ecstasy with the equanimity of faith, hoping but not pres
... See moreDavid Bentley Hart • The Experience of God
We ask not to change God but to change ourselves. We pray to form a living relationship, not to get things done. Prayer is a symbiotic relationship with life and with God, a synergy which creates a result larger than the exchange itself.
Richard Rohr • Breathing Under Water : Spirituality and the Twelve Steps
Lael Johnson and added
At other times we’re embarrassed to ask God for help because we keep giving in to the same temptation over and over. But God never gets irritated, bored, or impatient when we keep coming back to him. The Bible says, “Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us
... See moreRick Warren • The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?
In essence, there is only one thing God asks of us—that we be men and women of prayer, people who live close to God, people for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough. That is the root of peace. We have that peace when the gracious God is all we seek. When we start seeking something besides Him, we lose it. As Merton said in the last pub
... See moreBrennan Manning • The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out
Prayer allows God to be God. And prayer also allows our secret selves to be themselves.
John O'Donohue • Four Elements: Reflections on Nature
Lael Johnson and added
Our prayer may be formal words or a simple, silent turning toward God, but it acknowledges our source of hope, expresses our true desire, unites us with the rest of humanity, and commits our willingness to God.