One challenge in prayer is becoming attached to what we want God to do for us. While we dutifully pray “Thy will be done,” in truth, we have our hearts set on predetermined outcomes. We want all people to be healed and all circumstances to break in our favor. Can we detach from what we think should happen to let God be God?
Detachment was an essential element of Eckhart of Hochheim’s (1260-1328) theology. His common name, Meister Eckhart (Meister is the German word for Master), was a Dominican priest, a professor of theology, and a popular mystic. He was the most celebrated preacher in the Dominican Order, also known as the Order of Preachers. His sermon on detachment is among his most famous. He calls upon believers to detach themselves from self-will to choose God’s will. When we detach ourselves from self-interest, we are ready and receptive to do God’s will. And what is the prayer of a detached heart? Jesus modeled it in the Garden of Gethsemane— “Not my will but yours be done.” We need to cease our litany of requests long enough to become still so God can speak to us. I’m struck by Eckhart’s words, “The reason we are not able to see God is the faintness of our desire.” Near the end of his life, his friends said, “Give us something to remember since you are going to leave us.” He replied, “What seems trivial to us is greater in God’s sight than what looms large in our eyes…Just follow where God leads.” His last words lead us into prayer:
Meister Eckhart
We thank thee, heavenly Father, that thou has given us thine only begotten Son, in whom thou give us thyself and all things. We pray thee, heavenly Father, for the sake of thine only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom thou neither will nor can deny anything to anyone—hear us in him and make us free and bare all our manifold faults, and unite us, in him, with thee. Amen.
The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, translated by Maurice O’C Walshe.
Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.