Pray Humbly
Vincent, before praying … remember your wretchedness … your black ingratitude and impiety … How dare you speak with our … perfect God … Confess then your misery and … impiety. (OOCC, X, pp. 107 - 108; STA, 165)
In prayer, a person experiences who God is and who he is before him. Prayer reveals God in his infinite perfection and the human person in his misery. Hence, a person’s communication with God in prayer must necessarily be humble. The interaction of a person with God in prayer must be honest and without any pretension. God knows who a person is. Hence, he need not show off his greatness before God. Prayer, as the dialogue between God and a person, must be done without any form of fear, as God, the Infinite Love, knows humans misery and accepts a person despite knowing this fact. While a person need not fear God to approach him in prayer, the attitudes that should characterize a genuine prayer are the following: a humble adoration of God’s infinitely perfect personality; a deep sorrow for one’s sinfulness; a sincere gratitude for God’s gift of forgiveness and divine life; an earnest placing of one’s needs before God; total dedication to the work of God; and joyful praise of God’s glory. When prayer is addressed to God in this humble spirit, God accepts and respects a person and his prayer. He responds to the needs of the person with his love.
Am I humble as I stand before the presence of God in prayer? Do I relate to God in honesty and without pretension? Does fear prevent me from reaching out to God in prayer? Which are some of the qualities that characterize my prayer? What should I do in cultivating these qualities in my life?
Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. (Jas. 4: 10)