What is Prayer?

Emanuel Swedenborg did more than write about spiritual concepts; he lived a spiritual life. His life was filled with prayer, meditation, dreams, and mystical experiences.  It can be difficult to find the words to discuss one's prayer life, but Swedenborg left us some poignant passages.

When Swedenborg wrote about prayer, he was NOT referring to our taking a "wish list" to God of things we wanted in our life. He emphasized that true prayer came from our depths.

To which there answers something like an influx into the perception or thought of the mind, so that there is a certain opening of the man's interiors toward God; .... If the man prays from love and faith, and for only heavenly and spiritual things, there then comes forth in the prayer something like a revelation (which is manifested in the affection of him that prays) as to hope, consolation, or a certain inward joy. It is from this that to "pray" signifies in the internal sense to be revealed. .

 

When we pray from the sincerity of our heart, God responds to us with an influx which allows us to open more fully to God. God gives us a "revelation" which brings up hope and even joy

 

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