“The fact that we can pray is not something to be taken for granted. It is true that prayer is a natural need of the human heart, but that does not give us any right before God…We pray to the God in whom we believe through Christ…We can know that God knows what we need before we ask for it. That gives our prayer the greatest confidence and a happy certainty. It is neither a formula nor the number of words but faith that reaches God in his fatherly heart, which has long known us. The proper prayer is not a deed, not an exercise, not a pious attitude, but the petition of a child to the heart of the Father.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) in God is on the Cross: Reflections on Lent and Easter, trans. by O.C. Dean, Jr., comp. and ed. by Jana Riess (Louisville: WJKP, 2012) 4.
As I explore prayer in silence this lenten season, I am realizing that I can’t do anything to be loved, because I am already fully known and deeply loved. My true self slowly comes into view as I discover that the Father is profoundly safe. In sweet communion, prayer appears as a gift enlivened with “happy certainty” and confidence. I learn to rest, and I find peace knowing that He knows my needs and I shall not want.
So why does He encouraged me to ask for things I think I need? It’s not because He does not know them, it’s because I don’t know Him. When I consider how loved I am, I get a glimpse of the heart of the Father, which causes my love for Him to grow (cf. 1 John 4:19). That’s what I am learning so far with regard to prayer this Lent. What a gift of happy certainty! What are you learning? Share it with someone today.