There was once a protestant preacher who had the reputation of being a good preacher as well as a person of great prayer: “when he prays” people used to say “he moves your heart.” A reporter wanted to write an article about this preacher, so he went to one of his services. The preacher, as was his custom, began the service with a long prayer. After hearing his prayer the reporter cynically described the it as “the most eloquent prayer ever offered to a Boston audience.” He realized that the purpose of the prayer was simply to move the listener’s hearts.
This “great preacher” had the same problem of the pharisees: his prayer was not directed to God. Prayer that is not directed to God for any reason (to move the audience, to pretend one is a holy person, etc.) is directed to ourselves, which means that we look for our own glory rather than the glory of God.
So, the question becomes: “how can I be sure that my prayer is directed towards God?” The main answer is: humility. However, I would like to highlight something important, which is implied by what I just said: we should pray with a listening attitude rather than a talking attitude.
What does this mean? If we pray because we want God to hear us, we have a talking attitude. This was the attitude of the pharisees as well as the preacher in the story above. Those who want to be listened to, are those who are not humble.
On the other hand, those who are humble want to listen to God, because they know that what God has to say is more important that what they have to say. When I say ‘talking attitude’ I am not referring of those who pray with vocal prayers like the Our Father or the Hail Mary. It is possible to say those prayers with both a talking attitude or a listening attitude.
For example, those who want to do something particular, and after prayer they are even more convinced that everything they wanted to do is God’s Will, will often say: “God changed nothing from my plan but rather He confirmed everything.” If that is the case, we should be careful because usually it is a confirmation that we were talking with ourselves, and it is ourself that is confirming the plan.
Those who have a listening attitude in prayer do not make any decision before going to pray. Even more, they pray with the decision of doing nothing until God clearly shows His Will through prayer, discernment, wise advice, etc. Once they discover God’s Will they put all the necessary means to fulfill it.
The coming of Our Lord to our hearts is a silent coming, so it is necessary to create a silent environment within us for Jesus to enter there. The talking attitude creates a noisy environment within us; therefore, that kind prayer is not helpful to create this environment. If we want to be ready to receive Jesus in our hearts, we need to increase this listening attitude in order to silence our selfishness.
