Our thoughts and beliefs do not determine how we live our lives. No, it is the movement of the will that determines what we think, what we believe, and how we live our lives. In simple terms, we see what we want to see. Living the spiritual life is the courage to become transparent to our underlying motivations and misguided inclinations. You might wonder, what does such transparency have to do with prayer? If we want our prayers to be meaningful and powerful, we must go underneath our words and thoughts. We must be present to the deepest depths of our own hearts, beneath our self-protective walls and superficial wants and desires. In our deepest depths, we will find prayers waiting to be prayed which have nothing to do with thoughts or words. Such prayers are the heart’s innate longing for love, for union with the Beloved. In yielding to this interior pining, our lives become an arrow shot into the very depths of God’s heart.
My truest prayers
Are those which
Burst from my heart
Without words or thoughts.
