Godward

"And all true prayer is Godward. I have heard preachers who pray, so that one really wonders whether God is even allowed to overhear the prayer. It seems to be rather a roundabout way to instruct the congregation, especially when the prayer is introduced by the formula, ''Teach us, Oh Lord"—followed by a sermon in prayer format. But all true prayer is Godward, and it will never be anything else than Godward, especially when prayer moves toward meditation. As I leave for Sweden, I shall speak again that language, where the word for meditation is ''the act of looking at" (betraktelse). That is what meditation is. To look at an image of Jesus...when I look at Jesus, I see God."
-Krister Stendahl, Harvard Divinity School Convocation 1984

As I stumbled upon this, it made me pause to reconsider my own prayers. With a life full of academic pursuits, family responsibilities, and the pursuit of leisure, I find my own prayers short and very egocentric at times. They are focused on my own needs and wants and I forget the nature of my relationship with my Father in Heaven. While Stendahl warns about imposing our own teachings upon God, we can just as easily impose our own wants and needs on God. And yet in spite of our short comings our Father is willing to talk to us in any form. It is days like today where prayers have been answered and I have seen miracles in spite of my failure to follow the best patten of prayer, that I am reminded of the great power of prayer, and reminded again of my own need to better shape those prayers in a way that will bring me face to face with my Father.