The journey of prayer for Franciscans is the discovery of God at the center of our lives. We pray not to acquire a relationship with God as if acquiring something that did not previously exist. Rather, we pray to disclose the image of God in which we are created, the God within us, that is, the one in whom we are created and in whom lies the seed of our identity. We pray so as to discover what we already have—“the incomparable treasure hidden in the field of the world and of the human heart.” We pray not to “ascend” to God but to “give birth to God,” to allow the image in which we are created to become visible.
We pray to bear Christ anew. In prayer, therefore, we discover what we already have, the potential for the fullness of life, and this life is the life of Christ.
—from the book Franciscan Prayer: Awakening to Oneness with God
by Ilia Delio, OSF
