Jesus taught us to pray with words and Christians have developed various forms of social, public, and liturgical prayer, often centering around intercession, gratitude, and worship.
But Jesus also taught wordless prayer: “praying in secret” (Matthew 6:5-6), “not babbling on as the Gentiles do” (Matthew 6:7), or his early morning solitary prayer (Mark 1:35), because “your Father knows what you need even before you ask” (Matthew 6:8). All these are what many today call contemplation—openness to resting in God’s presence more than actively seeking to fully know or understand.
Christian tradition is rooted in “Word became flesh” (John 1:14), but we disregarded the flesh. We disregarded an embodied relationship with God. Instead, we preferred words with which we could proclaim certainties and answers. We insisted on absolute truth claims in the form of words, whereas Jesus’ truth claim was his person (John 14:6), his presence (John 6:35), and his ability to participate in God’s perfect love (John 17:21-22).
Emphasizing on words and forms, instead of inviting people into an experience of Divine Presence, has caused much of the crises of human history. Jesus gives us his risen presence as “the way, the truth, and the life.”
Matthew 6:6-7 “But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.”
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