By P. Thomas Kuffel
Prayer, that elusive conversation with God, confuses many, as St. Paul reminds us: «We do not know how to pray as we ought». (Romans 8:26) The Spirit, who prays in us «with inexpressible groanings» (Romans 8:26), searches our hearts, revealing our deepest secrets, fears, dreams, and desires. This inner revelation unsettles our conscience, for it confronts us with the reality of our own misery and sin.
But it also shows us the depth of the Father’s love, revealed in Jesus and in the Spirit, a love that frightens our soul when experiencing the power and presence of his purity, which purifies our weakened hearts. The divine Love is entirely beyond all comprehension, as St. Paul explains:
«What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.» (1 Corinthians 2:9)
This intimidates our heart. We cannot comprehend the breadth, the height, and the depth of divine Love that wants to penetrate our life. However, this is precisely prayer: not so much us speaking to God, but God speaking directly to us, as he did with Moses, face to face.
Such intimacy disrupts our stability. Feeling unworthy because of our sin, we hide from divine Love, as Adam and Eve did, ashamed, because sin dehumanizes us. We feel unworthy, and instead of drawing near, we flee. Instead of converting, we hide. We are paralyzed, feeling exposed, without trusting in God because we do not trust in ourselves.
Prayer exposes our deepest self, not only before our conscience, but before the Father, making us uncomfortably aware of ourselves. However, the Father speaks to us heart to heart, not to intimidate, but to affirm. Affirmation is the purpose of prayer, to affirm how loved we are by the Father.
In his apostolic letter Novo millennio ineunte, St. John Paul II reflects on our encounter with the transcendence of God:
«Prayer can progress, as a true dialogue of love, to the point of making the person totally possessed by the divine Beloved, vibrating at the touch of the Spirit, resting filially in the heart of the Father.» (n. 32)
Through prayer, the Father speaks to us, revealing us as his children. He gives us his identity, and we become one with him, participating in his life. In prayer, he reveals his Son to us, who came to seek us, feed us, and save us from our doubts and fears. We are no longer lost or abandoned, but found and radiant in divine Love.
During prayer, the Father teaches us his affirming love, showing us not only what it means to be a son or daughter, but above all how to be one. He, through the Son and the Spirit, infuses himself into our being. This grace, the gift of God that transforms life, converts us from living for created goods to seeking the source of all good: the Father himself. Filled with grace, like Mary, we radiate glorified Christ.
The Holy Spirit opens his treasures to us, revealing our beauty and goodness if we open ourselves to his grace. Opening ourselves to the Spirit reveals to us «the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength, the honor, the glory, and the blessing» (Revelation 5:12) of Christ, who dwells in us if we follow him.
St. Paul teaches:
«That he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened through his Spirit in your inner being, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.» (Ephesians 3:16-17)
Wisdom discovers the riches of his glory. Wisdom, the lamp that illuminates our understanding, touches our souls, making us rich in grace, that is, in the life and love of God. This wealth comprehends divine thoughts and receives with gratitude the gifts of the Spirit, so that we may correctly interpret divine truths, for “we possess the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:13).
Possessing the Spirit through prayer «makes us an eternal gift» (Eucharistic Prayer III) returned to the Father.
Through prayer, the Holy Spirit infuses divine life into our hearts. The human heart, an abyss that yearns for divine life, participates in God’s redemptive love when it shows itself docile to the Spirit.
Docility, that capacity to receive divine gifts and truths, strengthens our weaknesses, gives light in our doubts, courage in conflicts, peace in trials, and above all, security in faith.
As St. John Paul II affirmed:
«Therefore, the Holy Spirit not only enables us to pray but guides us “from within” in prayer.» (Dominum et vivificantem, 65).
His presence gives prayer a divine dimension, because «He who searches the hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God». (Romans 8:27)
Prayer, inspired by the Holy Spirit, invokes the Father’s love. Every prayer is, therefore, an invocation, which allows the Spirit to act in our life, whether giving us strength to endure, understanding to resolve, or light to discern the divine plan of salvation.
Invoking God requires trust. Without trust, as James warns, our prayers are not heard, not because we do not pray, but because we pray badly. (James 4:3)
Our intentions become distorted: instead of ordering our life according to God’s will, we want God to order his according to ours. Thus prayer is deformed, passing from seeking, knocking, and asking to demanding what we desire, and not what the Spirit wants to give us.
We must constantly open ourselves to the inspirations of the Spirit, following the advice of St. Paul:
«Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication; watch with perseverance, interceding for all the saints.» (Ephesians 6:18)
True prayer seeks justification, that is, to be righteous before God, not self-righteous. It leads to sanctification, in which our sin is transformed into holiness. Thus, the Spirit prepares us for glorification. In glory, we rejoice and exult, because we, the Bride of Christ, filled with grace, perform “the righteous deeds of the saints”. (Revelation 19:8)
About the author
Fr. Thomas Kuffel, born in Milwaukee (Wisconsin), was ordained in 1989 and served for 25 years as a priest in the Diocese of Lincoln (Nebraska). He was then a missionary for six years in Fairbanks (Alaska). He currently serves in the Archdiocese of Denver, attending two rural parishes in Colorado.