Prayer is not first an activity performed by the soul. It is participation in the life and communion of God.
I often begin prayer occupied with my thoughts, anxieties, and needs, as though I must reach a God who is somewhere else. Yet Christ is already within us. Sometimes I find myself becoming quiet within the communion already ours. Sometimes there are words, questions, or tears. There is no sequence to master and no silence to achieve before we can be together in Him.
Abiding Before Doing
Abiding is not inactivity. It is the end of independent activity. The branch does not imitate the vine or manufacture fruit. It remains in living union with the source, and fruit appears as the expression of that union.
The Son’s fellowship with the Father
Before the world began, the Son was in the Father, and the Father in the Son. This eternal fellowship is the hidden reality of abiding. In the spirit, Christ Himself is the prayer, the life, and the communion. Even when feeling grows quiet and understanding reaches its end, that fellowship remains.
Recent reflections on abiding
The One Thing, Brother — The Son’s eternal communion with the Father, living within the quiet of the spirit.
The Blessing of Remaining — On suffering, unanswered questions, and Christ’s communion with the Father continuing within the silence.
The Prayer I Cannot Find Room to Speak — An earlier personal letter about silence and grief in prayer and table meetings.
Read related letters
For reflections on living from Christ rather than striving to produce spiritual results, continue with these Dear Ray letters:
- A Prayer I Am Only Beginning to Learn — A letter on quietness and the communion we share in the Son.
- The Vision That Never Cooks — When understanding spiritual life has not yet become living it.
- The Difficulty of Beginning Again — Learning to live from Christ already within us, beneath inherited words and forms.
- The Quiet Turning of the Heart — Turning our attention toward Christ within us when distractions arise.
- When I Leave the Source — An honest reflection on self-reliance. “Leaving” describes misplaced reliance, not a loss of union with Christ.
Watch a short reflection
The Unfinished Sentence · 48 seconds — A small interruption, a thirsty dog, and the communion that continues when our words stop. Includes narration and a readable transcript.
New to these words? Words in These Letters offers brief explanations of abiding, Zoe (divine life), and inward turning.
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