When we pray to God we must be seeking nothing — nothing.

Even if this wording cannot be securely traced to Francis’s authenticated writings, the sentiment aligns with a core Franciscan ideal: prayer as radical poverty of spirit. The line insists that prayer is not a transaction—asking God for outcomes, favors, or even spiritual consolations—but an act of self-emptying attention and surrender. “Seeking nothing” points to detachment from possessions, status, and personal will, so that the person praying is available to God rather than using God to secure desires. In this reading, the goal of prayer is communion and transformation, not acquisition; the “nothing” is the interior space where humility and trust can take root.