Alexa Botha (The Phenomenology of Prayer #1)

In movies, advertisements or even in my own personal life prayers usually portray some sort of bargain with the God or higher power that is being prayer to. While this is something so obvious, it is something I never really noticed. The authors of this book, Benson and Virzba, use this "issue" for lack of a better word as their foundation. They as what a God could possible want from us that they don't have? What could we give a God in the agreement of a trade? This is such an eye opening thought. When I've prayed before I am normally offering something, whether it is being a better person or studying harder for my exam... Instead of prayer being used as an agreement it should instead be used as an opportunity to open a gateway for sacredness. Prayer is creating a space in which the divine can appear, it is an opportunity to rid yourself of self and just feel true connection.  Life consists of exchange, eat and drink and create waste. Plant a tree and then cut it down for paper, this same level of exchange cannot occur with a God and so they remain separate in order to maintain their divinity. This leads us to incarnation, by emptying ourselves we are creating a space for divinity. Humans are so consumed by things, by need and want. When one lets go of all these thoughts and wants there opens a space for God to come and create a pure sacredness within the soul.