"If we do not pray, we fail to realize that we are in the presence of God. We cannot recognize what he is. Such an attitude would render us incapable of grasping the fact that God meets us in Jesus Christ. Now, when we are aware of this mystery, we must pray. Jesus Christ is there -- he, the Son of God; and we who belong to him -- we, for whom there is no other possibliity than to follow him, to speak through his mouth --are with him. We have found the right road, and now it behooves us to walk in it. On this path, the Gospel and the Law, the promise and the commandments of God, are one and the same thing. God opens this road to us; he commands us to pray. Thus it is not possible to say, "I shall pray," or "I shall not pray," as if it were an act according to our own good pleasure. To be a Christian and to pray are one and the same thing; it is a matter that cannot be left to our caprice. It is a need, a kind of breathing necessary to life."
-- Karl Barth (!), an excerpt from Prayer
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