The power of profound prayer

God does not change. He is definitively complete and, therefore, immutable. He is unalterably present in us and does not admit various degrees of presence. What does change is our relationship with Him, according to the degree of our faith and love. Prayer makes this relationship more intimate, an intimate penetration of the I-Thou produced through affective experience and joyful knowledge, and resemblance and union with Him becomes more profound day after day.

It is like having a candle in a dark room. The more light we get from the candle, the better we can see the room, which becomes more “present” even though it does not actually change.

We all experience the feeling that when our prayer is more profound, God is closer to us, more present, evident, and alive. And the more the glory of the face of God shines upon us (Ps 31), the more events have new meaning (Ps 36) and history is filled with Him. In a word, the Lord becomes vividly present in everything. There is no game of risk or chance; there is a pilot who directs events with a steady hand.

Extracted from the book “Sensing your Hidden Presence” by Fr. Ignacio Larrañaga