The goal of prayer, as any good Christian would agree, is to give us access to God and to allow us to listen to God and to actually hear God, if that does not seem presumptuous. But mostly, prayer is to allow us to experience the Indwelling Presence ourselves. Finally, we are not praying, but prayer is happening through us (see Romans 8:26–27), and we just allow and enjoy it. The only way we can do that is to work to maintain an open field—and yes, it is work to remain open to grace. What a total paradox. However, it does not mean that grace cannot break through anytime and anywhere. In fact, that is the most common pattern, but we want to enjoy the fruits of grace constantly, not just now and then.
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