Prayer

Then a priestess said, Speak to us of Prayer.

Then a priestess said, Tell us about Prayer.

And he answered, saying:

And he answered:

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

You pray when you are troubled or in need. I wish you would also pray when you are full of joy and have plenty.

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living air?

And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.

And if it comforts you to pour your darkness into space, it also delights you to pour out your heart’s dawning.

And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing.

And if you cannot help weeping when your soul calls you to prayer, she should urge you on again and again. Though you are weeping, she should keep urging you until you come laughing.

When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet.

When you pray, you rise into the air to meet others praying at that same hour. You may not meet them except in prayer.

Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion.

So let your visit to that invisible temple be only for joy and sweet communion.

For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive:

For if you enter the temple only to ask, you will not receive:

And if you should enter into it to humble yourself you shall not be lifted:

And if you enter it to humble yourself, you will not be lifted up:

Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others you shall not be heard.

Or even if you enter it to plead for the good of others, you will not be heard.

It is enough that you enter the temple invisible.

It is enough that you enter the invisible temple.

I cannot teach you how to pray in words.

I can't teach you how to pray using words.

God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.

God listens to your words only when he speaks them himself through your lips.

And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains. But you who are born of the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart,

And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas, forests, and mountains. But you were born of the mountains, forests, and seas. You can find their prayer in your heart,

And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence,

And if you listen in the stillness of the night, you will hear them saying silently,

“Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.

“Our God, you are our winged self. It is your will within us that wills.

It is thy desire in us that desireth.

It is your desire within us that desires.

It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.

Your urge within us would turn our nights, which belong to you, into days that also belong to you.

We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:

We cannot ask you for anything, because you know our needs before they arise in us:

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all.”

You are what we need, and by giving us more of yourself, you give us all.”