The focus of prayer is not the self. A man may spend hours meditating about himself, or be stirred by the deepest sympathy for his fellow man, and no prayer will come to pass. Prayer comes to pass in a complete turning of the heart toward God, toward His goodness and power. It is the momentary disregard of our personal concerns, the absence of self centered thoughts, which constitute the art of prayer. Feeling becomes prayer in the moment in which we forget ourselves and become aware of God.
Abraham Joshua Heschel, Man's Quest for God. Copyright 1954 Abraham Joshua Heschel. Copyright renewed 1982 Hannah Susannah Heschel and Sylvia Heschel. Reprinted with permission of Charles Scribner's Sons.
