What is a prayer?

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul…It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” - Mahatma Gandhi. How can one contain in language, this most intimate of relationships - that between God and man? To understand prayer, we must first remove some misconceptions.

Father Bruno, learned in rituals, was calling aloud to his Maker. Rain clouds gathered, thunder rumbled and from the earth below, frogs set up a response. At first it was a mild croaking, then it grew increasingly loud, until the cacophonic chorus completely drowned out the priest’s supplications. “Quiet!” commanded Bruno and because he was a man of God, a strange hush enveloped the earth. All was quiet. Bruno turned to God. But it seemed as if God had deserted him. Not a syllable escaped his throat; no prayer emerged. In desperation, Bruno commanded, “Croak!” Amidst the ensuing din, raised from a hundred throats, Bruno found his prayer. For who are we to think we know the path to God? For to the One who hears all, all things are prayers.

A priest in the temple thought he prayed best. He did all that his religion prescribed. He believed he was God’s chosen one. Opposite his home, lived a dancer. Every day, men visited her and paid her for her consummate artistry. The priest was annoyed with their immoral ways and ranted against her. Finally, he was called to God’s kingdom. Surprisingly, on that very day, the dancer died. At heaven’s gate, imagine the priest’s horror, when the dancer was allowed in first.

When the priest upbraided him, God replied, “Every day, you prayed to me, but your mind concentrated itself only on the woman. She, on the other had, danced for her living, but dedicated every dance to me. Who do you think deserves my love more?”

For prayer is not about knowledge, nor even about piety. It is not a monologue; it is a conversation. More than anything else, it is the helpless cry from a child’s heart to that of the mother. And when the call emerges with faith, and is filled with complete surrender, God cannot but
answer.