Many people quote Soren Kierkegaard "A man prayed, and at first he thought that prayer was talking. But he became more and more quiet until in the end he realised that prayer is listening." Christian Discourses (source not verified)
I know that Kierkegaard had a much broader view of prayer, see all the prayers he writes as an example. While I feel that Kierkegaard's quote is a vital reminder to us, nevertheless I like Leithart's way of putting it: "Prayer is a dialogue, a matter of mutual speaking and mutual learning. Prayer is inherently an act of trust, evoked by confidence in the word of God and by hope that God can and will do something in response to our prayers. Anyone with the boldness to ask God to listen to his or her words and petitions should do God the courtesy of first listening to his."
No comments:
Post a Comment