Here’s a quote from C.S. Lewis: “The prayer preceding all prayers is ‘May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to.”
How much of prayer is an attempt to please God and man with our words? How much of it is trying to put up a false front? God sees right through our mask of pride. Our time in prayer would be better spent falling humbly to our knees just as we are, and asking God to make us who He wants us to be. Not pretending to be something we’re not to try to impress people. Also, no matter how eloquent we are on this earth, it will never impress the God who created language.
The second part of the quote deals with praying to God, not our own image of God. Our mental constructs of God get in the way of truly knowing Him. God has revealed Himself in His word, and it would behoove all of us to seek Him out in this word and not our own minds. We have so many barriers to powerful, authentic prayer, most of which are created by ourselves. Nobody likes fake people, and God clearly has a thing against idolatry. I guess C.S. Lewis was a pretty smart guy. Keep it real.
Tags: Autheticity, C.S. Lewis, Idolatry, Prayer, Pride
May 9, 2008 at 8:16 am |
[...] intentions, Prayer, self examination at 6:16 am by Rich Found a quotation from author C.S. Lewis in a blog entry on prayer: “The prayer preceding all prayers is ‘May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou [...]