Prayer is not a technique for getting things, a pious exercise that somehow makes God happy, or a requirement for entry into heaven. It is much more like practicing heaven now by leaping into communion with what is right in front of us. Richard Rohr
Prayer may be the most misunderstood “exercise” of life. Most people would say that they pray. Most of them don’t mean the same thing. Sometimes we cry out for help when things are the worst and a miracle is our only hope. Sometimes we engage in rituals, believing it will make us or confirm us as righteous. At times we recognize our existence as beneficiaries of God. We try to express our thankfulness and we call it prayer.
I’m not sure what God thinks of these “prayers.” I suspect he appreciates our efforts and understands why we fall short. What He really wants is communion with us. He wants it of our own free will, so he sets opportunities before us that are not so overwhelming as to steal our will, but are powerful enough to draw us to him.
He knows that in that communion He seeks, we will get glimpses of heaven, lIttle pieces of our eternal destiny that will draw, encourage, inspire and motivate. He wants those times of communion to give us an appreciation of who He is and who we are, shining through a world that’s meant to be a medium of His glory and not an end in itself. He wants to change us into his likeness through our time in His presence.
We can have heaven on earth not enough to confuse us into thinking the earth is heaven, but enough for us to know that heaven is real because He is real and He calls us to it and is willing to begin to share it with us now through petite powerful glimpses.
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