unguarded and unrefined. It is rough and raw, and reveals to us something about what is going on at the deeper level where God connects with us. If this sounds very different from the effort of writing a sonnet or even a limerick, it is. To pray is an art and to make prayers is a craft. But it is the most artless of arts, the least crafty of crafts. To use a very different metaphor, it is like a baby crying. No instruction is needed. No forethought is required. Need and expression are connected.