St. Augustine on Prayer

Question 015.  

Isn’t it expecting too much to think that anything can truly fill us in this life?

There let us dwell in hope, since we do not yet dwell in reality… And that which was our hope will become our reality, it will be our repose… You move us to delight in praising you; for you have made us for yourself, and our hearts […]

Question 014.  

I sense a longing for something that I cannot explain – actually, it is more like a void that can’t be filled.  Is this normal?

This is a natural phenomenon, born of your rapport with your Creator… Our natural desire for God presents us with the dilemma of having to change ourselves, and in doing so we alter our relationship with God.  Through […]

Question 013.  

Does this mean that beyond going into a private room, we are that private room?  In other words, we are temples where God is to be found?

‘The heights’ it is said, ‘are in his heart, in the valley of weeping’.  The valley is humility…Even though you seek a high place, a holy place, make yourself an earthly temple of God. ‘For the […]

Question 012.  

But what does it mean to “shut the door”?

… to be alone with God in the sanctuary of the human heart, certain preparatory steps must be taken to ensure an authentic encounter with him.  Cast out of your heart all sordid desires… greed… superstitions, blasphemies, and evil thoughts.  Throw away your resentment – not only those you harbor towards your […]

Question 011.  

If God is transcendent and immanent, why are we enjoined to go into our private room and, with the door shut, pray to our Father who is in a secret place?

…pour out your prayer where God alone sees, he who repays all…if you know what ‘your private room’ is and clean it, then pray to God there….If men are to reward you, […]

Question 010.  

So our prayer is a search for a transcendent yet immanent God?

Without interruption or occupying space, with his immutable and exalted power, God is the most interior of all things, because all things exist in him.  Further, he is the most external thing, because he is above them all.  Thus… with his immutable eternity he is the oldest of all things and […]

Question 009

What do I need to discover this Light?

Love. He who knows the truth, knows what the light is; and he who knows it knows eternity.  Love knows it.  O Truth eternal and true love and beloved eternity, you are my God, for you I long night and day.

from St. Augustine Answers 101 Questions on Prayer by […]

Question 008

What should I look for when I go into myself?

Where God is there is peace… the Sabbath of the heart.  For it listens to God, who promises great things.  For it listens to God, who promises great things, and if it labors in the present, it expands in hope of the future, where the clouds of sadness are brightened; as […]

Question 007

What if I don’t feel drawn to prayer?

Are you not drawn? Pray, then, that you might be drawn to him. It is urgent to overcome sentimentalism in our relationship with God.  There is no sea so deep as the thoughts of God, who makes evil men to flourish and the good to suffer…it is upon that deep, in […]