Who is God? Have you ever truly pondered His existence—not as an abstract idea, but as the One who created you, sustains you, and loves you beyond measure? These fundamental questions shape our identity, our purpose, and our eternal destiny. If we are to enter into a loving and deepening relationship with our Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—we begin by seeking to know Him as He truly is.
We know much about God from Sacred Scripture and the Tradition of the Church. Many saints have lived holy lives, giving witness to the transformative power of a deep, personal, and loving relationship with God. The lessons we learn from these valuable resources can create the foundation of a new, truer, and more healthy relationship with God.
Let us try to understand Who God Is and What God Does so that we can enter into the Lord’s Prayer, given to us by our Divine Lord. To do that, we start at the beginning—the very beginning, so that the foundation we build will enable us to probe the heights of heavenly glory and union with God.
Who is God to You?
Who is God to you? This might seem like a curious question. We begin with pondering who God is to you because often we need to reevaluate and even shed certain aspects of our image of God.
Throughout history, different cultures have held various images of the divine—whether the deities of civilizations, such as Greece and Rome, pagan idols, nature spirits, or wrathful gods. While Christians do not typically adopt these beliefs, our understanding of God is often shaped by subtle distortions from these beliefs.
Some see God as a distant Creator Who is uninvolved in our daily lives. Others imagine Him primarily as a stern judge, always ready to punish. Some reduce God to a benevolent but powerless figure, who offers comfort but does not challenge or transform. Still others see God as a kind and welcoming God Who always gives us whatever we ask if we only pray hard enough.
These distortions, shaped by personal experience, societal narratives, and flawed theological interpretations, can obscure the true nature of God as revealed in Christ. By recognizing and shedding these false images, we can allow Scripture, tradition, and prayer to reveal who God truly is so that we can grow in authentic faith.
Another reason we might have a distorted image of God stems from our personal and familial experiences. Because Jesus taught us to call God “Father,” it is natural to project onto God our experiences of earthly fatherhood. While every earthly father is meant to reflect God’s perfect Fatherhood—which also encompasses the maternal qualities expressed by our mothers—human parents inevitably fall short of this ideal. Although we are called to extend compassion and mercy toward human weakness and failure, we should honestly acknowledge how these experiences might have shaped or distorted our image of God.
Take time to pause and reflect on your image of God. How do you see God? What do you believe about God? Do you have a clear perception of who God is, or do you find the very concept of God confusing and uncertain? In such a self inquiry, there are no right or wrong answers. The goal is honesty with yourself so that you unmask the images you have of Him.
Though this book has only begun, it might be useful to set it down before proceeding in order to answer those fundamental questions for yourself. You might even pencil some notes about how you see God in the margin. Doing so in a humble and transparent way will give you the opportunity to compare your images and ideas about God with the God Whom we will discover in the following chapters, as revealed to us by God Himself in the Old Testament, and by God Incarnate, in the Person of Jesus.
Who God Is
Because God is Perfect, He never changes. Two different forms of God cannot both be perfect. Change implies imperfection by its very definition. Therefore, God, who is Perfect, never changes. This changelessness is seen when God revealed Himself in the Old Testament as “I AM WHO AM” (Exodus 3:14). Though this declaration fails to reveal the details of WHO GOD IS, it tells us that God never changes.
The challenge and invitation given to each of us is to embark on a journey of discovery. Who is this eternal and never-changing God Who WAS, IS, and WILL BE FOREVER? Do you know, love, and serve Him?
Before we can love and serve God, we must come to know Him, not through the lens of our flawed human experiences, but through a lens that is clear and certain. That “lens” begins in our human reason, by which we can come to certain—albeit basic—truths about God. From there, we come to know God only through the gift of His self-revelation. Only God can tell us Who He Is. The following subsections explore God according to this twofold process: natural human reason and revelation.
A Logical Starting Point
Many great philosophers throughout history have attempted to define God using their minds alone, without consulting Scripture or other sources. This is the philosophical tradition. In fact, some of the greatest saints have contributed significantly to this philosophical discussion.
For example, Saint Anselm famously proposed an ontological argument—an attempt to demonstrate God’s existence based purely on the concept or definition of God. He argued, aliquid quo nihil maius cogitari possit. Though this philosophical formulation can sound awkward in English, it is translated as: “God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived” or “God is the greatest being that can possibly be conceived.”
In simpler terms, Anselm meant that God is the greatest possible being—so perfect and complete that nothing greater could even be imagined. He reasoned that a being that actually exists is greater than one that exists only in the mind. Therefore, if God is truly the greatest conceivable being, He must exist in reality and not merely as an idea—otherwise, He would not be the greatest.
Though exploring Anselm’s philosophical reasoning in detail is beyond our purposes here, it’s helpful to recognize that we naturally have certain intuitive ideas of God through reason alone. Because God gave us intelligence and made us in His image, we are able, even without explicit divine revelation, to grasp basic truths about His existence and perfection.
Another illustration of this comes from Saint Thomas Aquinas, found at the beginning of his influential work, Summa Theologiae, in which he presents five rational proofs for God’s existence (cf. Summa I, q. 2, a. 3). By “rational,” we mean that he applied basic logic to certain self-evident principles and deduced five proofs for the existence of God. By no means do his propositions arrive at the fullness of Who God is—such as the Trinity of Three Divine Persons—rather, they arrive at more basic conclusions: There must be an Unmoved Mover, the First Cause, the Necessary Being, the Ultimate Perfection, and the Intelligent Designer who governs all creation. These fundamental conclusions provide a rational foundation upon which the deeper truths of divine revelation can build.
For example, in describing God as the Intelligent Designer, Thomas argues that everything in the natural world acts purposefully, in a certain direction. There is an order to the Universe, in which unintelligent objects—animals, plants, elements—work harmoniously together toward a certain end. This implies they are directed by an intelligent being—God. Thomas’ other four propositions are similar, following the same rules of deductive reasoning.
Though many philosophical books have been written for and against these rational propositions, the essential point for our purpose is this: Starting with human reason, our journey to discover Who God Is begins with simple yet profound truths. From this foundation, we can then ascend to the deeper mysteries of His divine revelation.
Beyond Philosophical Arguments
By accepting the self-evident and reasonable conclusions that there must be a God—an Unmoved Mover, First Cause, and Necessary Being Who is Perfect and Intelligent—we find ourselves wondering, Who is God? How do I know God? Though I believe that God exists, is it possible to know anything whatsoever about Him?
Once we believe in God’s existence, we move to the next level, the level of faith. Faith is not merely believing something; it’s knowing something that is unseen but true. For example, we can believe in aliens, but we cannot have faith that there are aliens unless they were to truly exist and God actually reveals them to us. The spiritual gift of faith first requires that God reveal truth to us and then calls for belief in that truth. Because of the supernatural gift of divine revelation—God revealing Himself to us—we cannot only believe in God, we can come to know Him deeply. The gift of faith is like a sixth sense—a spiritual sense—by which God communicates to us Who He Is and how He relates to us, and we assent to that revelation with belief—the virtue of faith.
Unless the starting point of personal faith is revelation—God revealing Himself to us—we cannot know Him beyond the fundamental philosophical propositions. “Divine Revelation” is all that God has revealed to us. We call this the Deposit of Faith. It comes to us in the Scriptures and through the Apostles. The Deposit of Faith opens the door not only to knowledge about God, but more importantly, knowledge of God. God does not only reveal truths about Himself; He reveals Himself in a real and personal way.
God’s self-revelation takes place in two fundamental ways: He reveals his essence and His actions. When we come to know Who God is in His essence, we also come to know What He Does. We begin, then, with God’s essence.
God Reveals His Essence
Remember that in the Old Testament God revealed to us His name as “I AM WHO AM” (Exodus 3:14). Taking the first letter of each Hebrew word, we get “YHWH.” This name signifies that God is pure existence itself—absolute, self-sufficient being—and that YHWH is independent of all creation, the Uncaused Cause of everything that exists.
Because this was the first foundational self-revelation God gave us of Himself, we begin with that concept and allow it to gradually overshadow and transform every other idea we have of God. Consider spending time this week pondering this mysterious and profound revelation God gave us of Himself—His Divine Name: YHWH.
Building on this mysterious revelation of God’s essence, Saint Thomas Aquinas develops eight logical conclusions we can make about God. Though his approach is theological and academic in nature, there is much we can learn from his insights that will help feed our prayer and union with God. We will consider some of his insights generally and reflectively.
Saint Thomas begins by stating that Simplicity is fundamental to God’s essence. Ponder this: As Divine Simplicity, there is no distinction between Who God is and that He exists. Unlike humans, who are made up of many parts—mind, will, body, emotions—God is simply God. There are no parts, nothing changes, He is Eternal. Though humans might grow in wisdom, God is Wisdom Itself. God IS Love, Perfection, and Goodness. He IS Infinite and Present Everywhere. Because of His Divine Simplicity and Perfection, He is Never-Changing, Eternal, and Indivisible.
Though there is much we can take from these revelations, one very helpful aspect is God’s unchanging stability. God never changes His mind with us. What He thinks is what He thinks. What He does is what He has always done. Our prayers do not change God; our prayers change us and help conform us to God’s unchanging and perfect will.
These attributes are precisely what make God the most personal being imaginable. They do not distance Him from us; rather, they establish the very foundation of His intimate and transformative relationship with us. Because God IS Perfection, Goodness, Infinite, and Unchanging, we can confidently trust in His unwavering love and providence. God’s essence provides us with the stability in our lives when we enter into a relationship with He Who is Unchanging Stability Himself.
This brief reflection on God’s essence—Who He Is—sets the stage for a more personal understanding of God: What God Does. Every one of God’s actions in this world and our lives flows from His Eternal, Perfect, and Unchanging essence. Though God is not obliged to do anything for us, His Divine Nature is such that it pours forth into our lives. Let’s now consider what that means for us so that we can properly understand and profess our faith in God’s deeper revelation.
What God Does
Though God is the Eternally Existing Uncaused Cause, He is also the sole cause of all that exists and all that He continues to sustain. First and foremost, God is the Creator. Yet, once He creates, God does not simply leave His creation to its own devices. He continues to sustain, govern, and guide all things by His perfect Providence. Let’s consider how this affects our lives.
God’s Creative and Sustaining Acts
As Creator, God is not an impersonal force. Every act of creation flows directly from the perfection of His Love. In creating you, God expressed His Divine and Perfect Love. You are not a mistake, nor merely a happenstance of life. You were directly and intentionally created by the All-Powerful and All-Loving God. Understanding this truth has the power to transform your life, for it is in this act of creation that we first find our dignity, value, and identity.
Ponder God’s decisive and loving choice to create you. No matter what you do, no matter how sinful you are, God never regrets creating you. This is because “regret” is contrary to His very nature. God cannot regret what He does; He cannot regret Who He Is. Understanding, believing, and embracing this most fundamental truth of creation is the first and most personal truth we must cling to, so that it becomes the foundation of our loving relationship with God.
Consider also that God alone keeps all things in being. If, for an instant, God forgot about you, you would cease to exist. The fact that you continue to exist at this very moment means that God never ceases to know and love you perfectly, in accord with His very nature. God can do nothing other than know, sustain, and love you because that is Who He Is.
Because God sustains us in being, He also guides us by His perfect Providence toward our ultimate purpose: union with Him. God respects our free will because He created us in His image, with the capacity to love and choose freely. Without free will, we could not choose to love God in return. Yet, even when we sin, God’s Providence calls us back to Himself, drawing us toward the fulfillment of our existence in Him.
This Providence reaches its fullness in the act of Redemption. God is not only the Creator, He is the Redeemer. From all eternity—within God’s Eternal Existence—He willed to call you to Himself through the gift of the Co-Eternal Son, who became Incarnate for our salvation. God does not regret this decision—He cannot. Thus, professing our faith in Who God Is naturally leads us to recognize What God Does. At the heart of His Divine Providence is our Redemption—the eternal plan of salvation accomplished in Christ Jesus, the Eternal Son of God.
God’s Perfect Attributes
Because all of God’s actions flow from Who He Is, it is important to go deeper, understanding God’s attributes that permeate His works. While we could never give an exhaustive list, we can consider some of His perfections that will help us better understand, believe, and embrace why God acts as He does.
Since God is pure being, infinite and without limitations, He knows all things—past, present, and future—in a single, eternal moment. This is a profoundly consoling truth. There is nothing about your life that God does not already know—nothing! He knows everything you have done, everything you will become, and He is perfectly aware of your every need. Since God’s Eternal Existence transcends earthly time, His knowledge of you also transcends time. Thus, prayer is not first about telling God who we are and what we need—He knows that far better than we do. Rather, prayer is about allowing God to reveal to us who we are, what we need, and what He desires for us to become, so that we can trust in Him and rely upon His Providence. True prayer seeks His Divine Knowledge above our own limited understanding and grace to act in accord with the truths God communicates.
This intimate and All-Knowing God is also All-Powerful. Nothing that is True is beyond His Power. By “True,” we mean that God’s Power is exercised only for the fulfillment of Divine Truth. No matter how much we plead for something outside of His Truth, He will not act against His perfect Wisdom. But when we seek Truth—Eternal Wisdom—God abundantly blesses us by exercising His Power. He gives every truly Good gift to those who ask because He is the All-Powerful Source of Goodness. Thus, God’s Power is never arbitrary—it is always directed toward His Perfect Goodness. It is this Goodness and this Goodness alone we must seek, shedding every lesser and perceived good.
Though God’s actions flow from His Divine Essence, He is not required to do anything for us. His actions are free. God does not act out of necessity, as if bound by external forces. Rather, He wills all that He is, and therefore, all that He does. His Divine Freedom ensures that everything He does is an expression of His perfect Love.
Within God is the perfection of both Justice and Mercy. These are not in opposition to each other but are different manifestations of the same Divine Goodness. In Divine Mercy, God lavishes Himself upon every soul who seeks Him. He holds nothing back. Yet, when we freely reject His Divine Mercy, His Divine Justice allows us to experience the consequences of that rejection—not as a form of vengeance, but as a means of correction. The pain of His Justice is not meant to destroy us but to awaken us to our need for Him, leading us back to His Mercy. Thus, God’s Justice and Mercy are not opposites; they are both perfect expressions of His perfect Love, ordered to the salvation of our souls, working together with perfect symmetry.
Aligning Our Desires
Before we begin reflecting on the Lord’s Prayer, consider how understanding the fundamental truths of God’s essence, His creative work, and His divine attributes shape—or do not shape—your soul. Examine your ideas of God:
- Who is God to you?
- What preconceived notions do you have about Him?
- What personal experiences have you had that have shaped your belief and the way you relate to God?
- Do you see God as a distant Being Who has little concern for the daily details of your life?
- Do you ever question whether God is truly concerned about you?
- Do you see God as One Whom you can change by pleading for your own will to be done, without considering His perfect will?
- Have your personal experiences distorted your image of God? Think especially of the wounds of sin, whether your own or of those inflicted upon you.
Try to erase every false image you have of God. Those images interfere with our ability to relate to Him in the light of His Eternal Truth, for God is Wisdom Itself. Seek to know Him in His Wisdom, shedding every other false conception.
Foundational Rational Belief in God
Begin by professing your belief in God. On a rational level, acknowledge the most basic truth that there must be a God—an All-Powerful and Eternal Being, Who exists outside of time and space and is Existence Itself. This God is the Unmoved Mover, the First Cause, the Necessary Being, the Ultimate Perfection, and the Intelligent Designer who governs all creation. Far from being impersonal ideas of God, these essential attributes form the foundation of how we enter into an intimate and loving relationship with Him.
With humility, we might realize that we have numerous ideas and images of God that do not align with Eternal Truth. Identifying them takes time and prayer, coupled with an openness to God as He Is in His essence. With an open mind and heart, examine your personal beliefs and the way you relate to God. Be ready to change your mind and the way you approach Him. Seek out not only the obvious and subtle distortions you have about God that have informed your actions. Only if we allow faith and prayer to cleanse us at our core will we be disposed to a much deeper and transformative communion with our loving God.
Transformed by Faith in God’s Self-Revelation
As you examine your rational belief in God, go deeper. Enter into the realm of faith. Tap into that “sixth sense,” that spiritual sense, that “secret sanctuary” of your conscience where you are alone with God, Whose Voice echoes in the depths of your soul. As you listen to Him:
- Profess your faith in Him.
- Tell Him you believe in Him and want to love Him more, in the pure and holy way He loves you.
- Ponder the Divine Name: “I AM WHO AM.”
- See in that name One Who is Existence Itself, Perfection, Goodness, Wisdom, Eternal, Infinite, Unchanging, All-Powerful, All-Loving, Merciful, and Just.
It is this God Who is also your Creator and Redeemer, the One Who offers you a share in His eternal life, holiness, and transformation. It is this God Who invites you to share in His divine life, elevating you through grace to partake in His love, holiness, and eternal glory.
This is Who God Is and What God Does. God is inviting you to make Him the Beginning and the End of who you are and what you do. He created you out of His Infinite Love, sustains you as the result of His Perfect Providence, and has redeemed you in Jesus, His Co-Eternal Son, in Whom you become God’s son or daughter.
The School of Desire
Ponder the foundational premise of this book from Saint Thomas Aquinas:
“Since prayer is the expression of our desires before God, we should only ask for what we ought to desire. The Lord’s Prayer not only contains everything we should desire, but it presents them in the proper order—thus shaping not only our petitions but also our hearts.” (Summa Theologiae II-II, q. 83, a. 9)
Following the Thomistic method:
- Mind: Allow these Eternal Truths to permeate your mind, so that you believe them not only with human reason but with the certainty of faith.
- Will: Let them echo in your mind over and over again, allowing your will to be conformed to them.
- Desires: As the Eternal Truth of Who God Is and What God Does soaks into your mind and will, let it culminate in the transformation of your every desire, directing them to that glorious end of Eternal Beatitude.
Imagine a gentle rain slowly and steadily soaking into dry earth. This process will lead you to desire only that which God wants you to desire, making your prayer an act in which you ask only for what you rightly desire because you have allowed God to order your desires. In that powerful and transformative act, God will fulfill those rightly ordered desires, and we will be disposed to allow our Lord to “Teach us to pray.”
This brief reflection now leads us to the greatest revelation of all: that the God of Infinite Wisdom and Power invites us to call Him Father. The Lord’s Prayer, given to us by Jesus Himself, is more than a set of words—it is the path into the very heart of the Father. Each phrase reveals not only how we should pray, but who we are in relation to God. Understanding this perfect prayer will enable us to embrace its profound message, allowing it to conform our entire being—mind, will, body, soul, emotions, and desires—more perfectly to God.
Let us Pray:
Eternal and Almighty God, Who revealed Yourself as “I AM WHO AM,” I come before You in humble adoration. You are the Unmoved Mover, the First Cause, the Necessary Being, the Ultimate Perfection, and the Intelligent Designer of all creation. In Your Divine Simplicity, You are not composed of parts but are pure Being itself—Unchanging, Eternal, and Indivisible.
I acknowledge that You are not a concept or an idea, but the Living God who created us out of love. You are Existence, Goodness, Truth, and Beauty itself. In Your perfect essence, You contain all perfections without limit or measure.
I marvel at Your creative power, by which You brought all things into being from nothing. More wondrous still is that You sustain us at every moment. If for an instant You forgot us, we would cease to exist. Your Providence guides all things according to Your perfect wisdom, respecting our freedom while drawing us toward our ultimate purpose: union with You.
In Your Omniscience, You know us better than we know ourselves. In Your Omnipotence, You act always in accord with Your perfect Truth and Goodness. In Your Divine Freedom, You choose to love us not from necessity but from the abundance of Your being. In Your Justice and Mercy, You correct us and draw us back to Yourself.
Lord, purify my mind from every false image of You that distorts my relationship with You. Free me from projecting my limited human experiences onto Your Divine Perfection. May I come to know You as You truly are, not as I imagine You to be.
Transform my desires, O God, that I may seek only what is True, Good, and Beautiful. Let Your divine Truth soak into my soul like gentle rain on dry earth, conforming my entire being—mind, will, emotions, and desires—to Your Divine Life.
I offer this prayer with confidence, knowing that You are not only the God of Infinite Majesty but also the loving Father who calls us to Himself through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Chapter Two: “Our Father, Who Art in Heaven”
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