Prayer comes in a variety of forms, and some people, who claim that they don’t pray, actually do—they just don’t think of it as praying. But anytime we are moved by the world around us, I believe that we have entered a time of prayer. That “ah-h-h-h,” for example, that spontaneously floats up from us when we see something beautiful … or the “oh-h-h-h” we suddenly express when we hear of someone else’s pain or misfortune—those are every bit as much a prayer, in my opinion, as anything you will find in the Book of Common Worship.

They are prayers because they come from somewhere deep inside us, and they are voiced to somewhere far beyond us. Indeed, the whole point of prayer is to put us in touch with the eternal and the infinite. Granted, we often pray for specific needs—food, health, forgiveness, safety—but beneath all of that, what we are really praying for is to have the experience of God’s presence.

In other words, while we sometimes speak of a particular prayer going unanswered, the truth of the matter is that, if we have experienced God in the process, then the prayer already has been answered! Even if God never speaks a word, and simply holds our hand as we walk through the valley, our prayer has been answered—because what we are truly praying for is to be in communion with God.

There is a wonderful scene in the film Shadowlands, which is based on the life of C.S. Lewis. Lewis has returned to Oxford from London, where he has just been married to Joy Gresham. The marriage ceremony took place at her hospital bedside, because she is dying of cancer.

Upon his arrival, Lewis meets up with an old friend, Harry Harrington, who asks what news there is. Lewis hesitates; and then, deciding to speak of the marriage rather than the cancer, he says, “Ah, good news, I think, Harry. Yes, good news.”

Harrington, not aware of the marriage and thinking that Lewis is referring to Joy’s medical condition, replies, “I know how hard you have been praying … Now, God has finally answered your prayer.”

“That’s not why I pray, Harry,” Lewis gently responds. “I don’t pray in order to change God; I pray so that I can be changed.”

If you ask me, that is the perfect way to understand prayer. It doesn’t change God; it changes us. Which is why, regardless of what we are praying for, our prayers are always answered, because in the very act of praying, we receive what we are truly seeking—communion with God.