Karl Rahner once described prayer as a way of “continuing to dig a small shaft through which a small ray of the eternal light falls in our heart that is buried by the everyday.” For Rahner, fewer words meant better prayer. He called them “prayer-poor times.” He asks, “But isn’t it better that at least the lips are blessing God than when the entire human being becomes mute? And isn’t there more hope then that the sound from the lips will find an echo in the heart than when everything in man remains mute.”[1]
Jesus encouraged us to do the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount. Instead of “babbling like pagans,” less is more. Silence can be a great way for the Father to speak to us.
[1] Karl Rahner, “Digging a Small Shaft,” from The Need and Blessing of Prayer.