“But now a strange thing befell me; my despair gave place to an unlooked-for tranquility. … True, I had no access to God, but a God who suffers access to Him is a God no longer. Nor if He is swayed by prayer. And for the first time I perceived that the whole greatness of prayer lies in the fact that no answer is vouchsafed it and into this exchange there enters none of the ugliness of vulgar commerce. And that the lesson of prayer is a lesson of silence; and love begins there only when no return may be expected. Thus love is, primarily, the practice of prayer, and prayer is the practice of silence.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wisdom of the Sands

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900 – 1944) was a French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator during a period when flying machines were made of sticks and fabric. He became a laureate of several of France’s highest literary awards and is best remembered for The Little Price, and for his lyrical aviation writings, including Wind, Sand and Stars and Night Flight. 

Saint-Exupery is one of my desert island writers and his book Wisdom of the Sands one of my favorites. I remember when I first read the excerpt above several years ago I was at first quite astonished as I was then a great believer in petitionary prayer. But after I thought about it for a while I could understand the ‘commercial aspects’ of this approach. If You just do this, I’ll do that – type of bargaining.

Many times our approach to pray is similar to the wheedling tactics we learned as children when we would pester, cry or have a tantrum to make our parents give us the new bike, the candy bar or permission to sleep over a friend’s house. When we didn’t get our own way, we would pout, cry, or become resentful.

Luckily, God is not so easily manipulated, nor is He the father figure of our imaginations. He is much more than we can conceive. Rather than asking for what we want, we would be better served by thanking Him for what He has already given, freely and unasked – our life. A deep gratitude is best expressed in silence for then we are quiet enough to hear His words of love for us.