The Depths of Our Desires

Or “Why don’t we don’t we Pray? – Part 2

Part 1 can be read here.  This is a short summary of the first part of what I said yesterday (Sunday 13th September) at church.  The audio will be available from our website in a day or two.

“There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else.”  CS Lewis. The Problem of Pain.

Our desires often seem to ebb and flow, but it perhaps more helpful to see we have different desires competing for our attention and to gain the upper hand.  We may want to ask the girl out (a desire that flows in one direction) competes with the desire not to face potential rejection.  We may want to get fit by going to the gym, but we may prefer to watch the TV instead.  We will end up acting on the strongest desire.

So I think people of faith do want to pray.  They know the value.  But often, we also want to do other things (stay in bed, have the radio on in the car, read a paper on the bus, watch TV, have a  coffee with friends) which compete with our desire to pray.

However, I believe, deep in the heart of every human being is longing for something Divine.  Something beyond ourselves.  To be loved and to love.  To be secure and held.  To have value and purpose; adventure and significance.  To be part of a world where there is no suffering or pain.  These “deepest longings” are often untapped and lie dormant, but speak of our being made in the image of God.

These desires are dangerous.  To long for something deeply opens us up to pain.  The longing will inevitably not be fulfilled to some extent (this side of heaven anyway).  It is much safer to keep these wild longings buried away, where they can’t cause so much trouble.  But in the process we lose something of ourselves, and what we were created for.

These deepest longings can’t be discovered by our rational mind, which is bad news for many of us raised in our terribly rational western world.  But they can be tapped into through music, story, poems, art, images, beauty, creation, scripture and prayer.  We can learn to recognise these deep longings, and as they poke their head above the surface of our lives, and if we nurture them, they can become powerful motivating forces for prayer.

The desire to pray (and for God) resides within every human being.  We just need to let it out.