October 16 – Longing as Prayer
The desire for God is already love; and the place where we find Him is in the desire itself. St. Bernard of Clairvaux
Gregg’s Reflection
My spiritual longing began with a sad lament, “Is this all there is?” I now recognize it as spiritual discontent, a desire for a deeper life. What I once mistook as emptiness was actually the Spirit’s invitation to seek more — more depth, more presence, more God. Longing, I’ve come to see, is not failure in prayer but the very energy that draws us toward the One who satisfies.
Longing strips away illusions of control. I cannot manufacture God’s presence or dictate how the Spirit should move. All I can do is open the empty hands of my heart. In this way, longing purifies my prayer—it teaches me to desire God for God’s own sake, not as a means to some other end.
I have learned to welcome longing as a companion on the path. Sometimes the most authentic prayer is simply waiting with the ache, trusting that God is already there in the silence. To long for the longing is to find ourselves caught up in God’s desire for us, which always precedes and sustains our own.
Scripture
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?
Psalm 42:2
O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalm 63:1
Ancient Quotes
The desire for God is already love; and the place where we find Him is in the desire itself.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, On Loving God, ch. 10
If you cannot find the longing, then long for the longing. In that longing, you will find the Beloved.
Meister Eckhart, Sermons & Treatises
Modern Quotes
The longings that form the visceral energy of prayer are not necessarily felt as longing for God, but in the infinite mystery of God’s oneness with us, they are.
James Finley, Christian Meditation, p. 16
God has awakened in my heart a longing I don’t understand, a longing for unity I don’t understand, but I’ve tasted it. The heart longs for depth, a deeper love. I am present in a presence, a presence that includes and transcends me, with a deep primitive knowing.
James Finley, Living School Faculty Call 11/20
Our very desire for God is already the beginning of God’s presence within us.
Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer, p. 34
Journaling Prompts
- What longings most shape your inner life right now?
- How might you recognize yearning itself as prayer, even when words are absent?
- Where do you sense God’s desire for you hidden within your own desires?
- How does solitude help you sit with longing rather than rushing to fill it?
Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 42 Reflection: Soul Yearnings/Thirst for God