Ever since City challenge last year I have been thinking about prayer much more than I ever did before, but as of recent I have thought about how different people pray differently. The result of a different kind of prayer can be influenced by many things, age, how they grew up, their vocabulary, how they think, what they are praying about, and how they view God.
One thing that struck me one day was how the prayer of a faithful and trusting child and the prayer of a revering and proper priest or saint are both beautiful in their own ways.
The prayer of a child can be so amazing because it can be simple, worded wrong, and the child probably doesn't even understand all that he should, but still his heart is for the Lord. He sees God on His throne in heaven which is a beautiful palace where everything is fantastic. The child does not understand how awful and unholy his sin makes him, but he knows that God loves him and we wants that love. The child has a very simplistic understanding that is just so raw and real in his heart.
The prayer of a saint inside of a great cathedral is very proper, revering, and understanding. The saint doesn't know everything about God or the whole Bible, but he understands that he doesn't know everything and therefore knows much. A saint can understand how unworthy of God's grace or love he is. The saint sees God as the highest being in this world and himself as one of the lowliest. From that understanding comes the reverent, praising, and humble prayer a of saint. The saint presents himself before God as a servant would to his king because God is his king and he is God's servant.
One of the prayers is simple and innocent the other is long and revering, but I think both are equally beautiful. Both are accepted by God and neither one is greater than the other. No matter how well you say what you pray God will see your heart. A ''good sounding" prayer doesn't mean much if you don't mean what your saying in your heart.
We should profoundly understand that when we pray we don't have to be perfect or say the "right words" its about the heart. The immaculate and extensive prayer of a priest isn't any better than the simple and fervent prayer of a child.
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