Learn how to pray

[CyrilSebastian]

How does a person learn how to pray? There are numerous prayers. 

[Shin]

Here is a splendid quote from a saint's letter to a nun on how she should pray.

'You ask to be taught how you ought to pray. The Lord himself taught us this through the invocation "Our Father", and that we should not ask for anything temporary, but for his kingdom and eternal justice. Moreover it has been ordained by the Fathers that first should come thanksgiving to God; next confession of our sins to him; and so a request for their forgiveness, and intercession for the other things that bring salvation.

So, when you are about to pray, give thanks to the Lord and Master that he brought you out of nothing into existence; that he redeemed you from every error, calling you and counting you worthy to become a partaker in the knowledge of himself, free from pagan, free from heretical error. Next that he prepared you for the monastic life, which equals that of the Angels, after the enjoyment of life in the world. The thought of all this is enough to soften the soul to compunction and the outpouring of tears. From all this comes enlightenment of heart, sweetness of spirit, desire for God. When this is present in the heart, there comes the rejection of every evil.

When you have thus given thanks to God, confess to him like this, "You know, Master, how many sins I have committed against you, and how many I commit each hour", as you reckon up this sin and this offence and the ones committed in knowledge and in ignorance. But do not recall in any detail the ones that by being clearly remembered harm the soul. [Cf. The Ladder 28,58] And from this the grace of humility will dawn for you, with a broken heart [Cf. Psalm 50,18] and fear of God's recompense. After this, ask, groan, implore your Lord for forgiveness of these sins and strengthening for the future to please him, saying, "My Lord, Lord, may I no longer anger you, may I no longer love anything but you, alone truly to be loved. And should I anger you again, falling down I implore your compassion, that I may be given strength from now on to please you."

And if anything else comes to your mind that is good to be accomplished, ask for it fervently. And after this call upon the holy Mother of God to have mercy on you, the holy Angels, and the Angel you have as the guardian of your life, that he may watch over you and protect you, the Forerunner and the holy Apostles, all the Saints and those whom you usually call on especially, and the one whose memory is kept that day.

These then are the things, it seems to me, which hold the power of prayer, even if each person doubtless prays with other words and not the same as these, because people who pray do not always say the same things themselves, but the power, as I reckon, is always the same. So may you be kept safe as you pray for what is necessary, and become better each day, and through a strict way of life present your entire self well-pleasing to the Lord.'

St. Theodore the Studite, 'Letter to the Nun Anna'

[Benedict]

The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray.
Furthermore, we pray with our intellect.
The Psalms teach us how to pray.
The Good Lord Jesus teaches us how to pray.
The Apostles teach how to pray.
The Saints teach us how to pray.

When you pray, let go of all doubt.
Firmly believe that God hears all prayers and has the will and the power to grant everything we ask.
Do not doubt when you pray or you will receive nothing.
Ask for what you know to be good.
Praise God, recollecting all His glorious deeds.
Thank God, remembering all His benefits.
Pray for others, the living, the dead, the faithful, the faithless.
Sing your prayers, pray silently, pray quietly, pray boldly, pray without care, pray without anxiety, pray without ceasing.
But most importantly, pray like your soul depends on it, pray like you stand at the gates of hell,
pray like you have no tomorrow, pray like there is no other opportunity, pray fervently, pray with tears,
 pray with sighs, pray with joy, pray with all your heart, all your mind and all your strength.

[eschator83]

For several years I've been quite fascinated by coincidences that occur to me to be, well, let's say amazing.  This could be one, because yesterday I resumed working on a book (one of many) that I would love to finish and publish, called Learning to Pray.  As a Catholic convert, after many years and neighborhoods and jobs and churches, I keep hoping I have learned some things that might benefit someone else if I could get them written.
I had not brought my drafts and notes for Learning to Pray to camp because I decided to work on another book, but almost as soon as we came home I felt drawn several times to restart this book, and finding this post today is a great motivator.  I will follow this thread closely and am very grateful for it.

[Benedict]

I am also working on a book, right now I am in the drafting stage and have stalled for months because of Covid-19.

But I suppose I should continue with the topic at hand: Learning how to pray.
Prayer is a form of speech, it is a form of speech reserved for the most heartfelt of moments. Prayer is a manifestation of love; prayer is a gift from God; to pray is acknowledge our dependence on God; to pray is to recognize that we are just creatures and that we have a Creator who is Benevolent and full of lovingkindness. When Peter fell into the sea he cried out in prayer "Lord, save me." in Greek "Kurios sozo me" in Latin "Domine, salvum me fac." and the Good Lord Jesus did just as Peter had asked. When the Apostles were struggling to grasp the mercy of the Merciful Lord Jesus they said full of desire "Lord, Increase our faith." in Greek "Kurios prostithemi pistis" in Latin "Domino Adauge nobis fidem." and the Lord Jesus caused the seed of faith to be implanted in them. God very often answers our prayers immediately, and He only delays in answering them for our benefit. Never think that God withholds answering your prayers in order to spite you or punish you. The Apostle James says that "the prayer of faith will save". Jesus says "ask and you shall receive that your joy may be full." Christ Jesus is our Joy and our Peace. If you are ever in doubt, remember what the Lord Jesus said, " the publican, stood far off, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.'" And it was this prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ said allowed the publican to leave "justified" or "innocent". For God had forgiven his sin and the prayer of the publican was answered. Never doubt, God is good all the time. Firmly believe, nothing can separate us from the love of God. Pray without ceasing, with fixed prayers and with spontaneous prayer, spoken outloud and mentally uttered in silence, with the voice and utterance and with the lips silently. For angels report our deeds and actions to God every hour according to the rule of Saint Benedict. Whenever you pray the Our Father, know that Jesus prays with you, and have no anxiety for peace comes from God, but be filled with love because you are loved by the God you speak to. You are loved by the Most High, the Ruler of the Universe loves you and desires your purification and repentance. The One who holds all things in His hands desires to make you holy and to be united to you forever. But this seems to be enough for today. Pray for me, brothers and sisters. For I am a sinful man, I am not worthy to attain heaven but I trust in the Lord God Almighty and His great love for mankind and His infinite mercy.

[Benedict]

And now a word about prayer: prayer should be short, except when it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. It is enough to say Benedictus Dominus Deus! Or Blessed be God! Jesus I love you, make me the temple of Thy Spirit! Father, help me to be truly Thy son! Holy Virgin, Mary, purest and fairest creature, pray for me who am so miserable! God free me from the bondage of sin!
The point is to lift the mind to the realm of heavenly possibilities! When we are baptized into the baptism of Christ, we are baptized into the infinite possibilities of God! With Him all things are possible! We can move mountains, tame lions, overcome any obstacle, scale the highest wall, defeat the greatest of strongholds, all by the power of Almighty God and holy prayer! There is the pray of purification. There is the prayer of illumination. There is the prayer of unification. There is the prayer inspired by our life. There is the prayer that is inspired by the saints. There is the prayer inspired by the angels. There is the prayer inspired by the prophets. There is the prayer inspired by the Apostles. There is the prayer, given for our salvation, which is the Lord's Prayer. O Holy of holies! The Lord's Prayer is great and mighty, rich in graces, abundant in blessings, all sufficient in graces! If you could learn the truth of the Lord's Prayer it is the only prayer you would need to say. So let me give you some pious insight. The Lord Himself, prays with us, this very prayer, so that we never pray The Lord's Prayer alone. The Lord prays with us! Consider this, you are united in prayer with the King of the Universe! If I could die of love it would be sufficient to express this point! God prays with you! Not only that, but you are united to all Christians, by the commonality of the prayer, you are united to all the saints, you are united to all those Christians who came before you in the faith, they professed the same Creed, the same Lord's Prayer and you can expect the same reward provided that you follow in their imitation of our Lord. Our Lord prayed always, He would go to be alone, leaving the disciples so that He could pray in secret. The Lord Himself desires secrecy, He desires not to be bothered with the continual task of pedagogy and was desirous of the intimate unity of the Holy Trinity. For Jesus always prayed in the Holy Spirit to the Father. This is our model. To imitate Christ our Saviour. To desire with all heavenly longing to truly commune with the Father. It is always important to ask God for faith. God will supply you with all the faith that you need, provided that you ask for it. This is called the Apostles' Prayer. Lord increase our faith. Or Lord I want to believe, heal my unbelief! Pray for faith that you might pray better. Then ask God to help you to pray. For Paul says we know not how to pray as we aught. We must admit this. For God gives grace to the humble. Admit your inability to pray as you aught and God shall bless you with pious sentiments and holy prayers. For the best prayers are those infused into us by the Holy Spirit which we can be certain God hears and is pleased that we cooperated by accepting His grace. Prayers of repentance are of the utmost importance. Odds are you are familiar with the act of contrition. However, most salutary is the perfect act of contrition that flows from the desire to repent out of love and not of fear. This is a most blessed prayer that flows from the heart and reaches God as a fragrance of pure incense.
For example, My God, I am sorry for having done wrong and chosen my own will over Thy perfect will. Please forgive me my sins and perfect in me Thy perfect love that by Thy grace I may avoid sin, do what is right and always be found pleasing to you. Amen
There is no "formula" for an act of perfect contrition so it is important to pray that God will grant you the grace of contrition and most importantly the gift of tears which the saints believed was of the utmost importance. By tears our sins are washed away.
My God I love you, increase in me my sorrow for my sins, grant me the gift of tears that I may love Thee more and more with every beat of my heart. Amen

[eschator83]

I keep hoping for more comment to appear here, and as you can probably imagine I am debating with myself about throwing a few thoughts into the thread.  Would that be interfering with your train of thought?  Are you writing?

[Benedict]

I keep hoping for more comment to appear here, and as you can probably imagine I am debating with myself about throwing a few thoughts into the thread.  Would that be interfering with your train of thought?  Are you writing?

Feel free to write more in here, it won't interfere with my train of thought.

[Benedict]

Prayer Q A Format:
Should we pray?
We must pray.

Why must we pray?
We must pray because we are commanded to by God.

Is that the only reason or are there others?
Prayer is accepting our absolute dependance and reliance upon God, it involves making ourselves weak and vulnerable and humbling ourselves before the Almighty.

Why must we be weak, vulnerable or humble?
We must be weak to be made perfect in God's grace.
We must be vulnerable so that our hearts are pure and contrite.
We must be humble in order to receive God's grace.

Does God hear the strong, the stubborn or the prideful?
God judges the strong, rebukes the stubborn and abases the prideful.

How often ought we to pray?
At all times.

Why must be pray at all times?
We must pray at all times because we are commanded to by God.

Is that the only reason or are there others?
The times we live in are evil. This is a godless generation of adulterers and abomination. If you do not pray, you are just like the godless and your religion does you no good.
This is why the Liturgy is composed entirely of prayers because it is heavenly and not of this world.
We ought to imitate Christ who always sought to pray and find places to meditate alone upon the Scripture and to pray to God with deep emotion, tears and groans.
Do not hold back anything from God when praying, boldly approach the throne of grace in times of need, God will not turn you away if you ask with faith.

Why must religion involve prayer?
Religion must involve prayer because prayer supplies all that we are lacking and strengthens what exists and obtains miracles, virtues, graces and new opportunities.

Why cannot religion involve strictly bodily action and be devoid of spiritual action?
True religion involves the disposition of the heart, even charity without love shall merit no reward.
Therefore the object of prayer is love and the means of prayer is love and the goal of prayer is love.
Pray that you do not enter into temptation for the Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
Pray that you may hallow the time and that what you have been given may increase and that you may not be deprived of all heavenly blessings in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Pray that your love shall not grow cold and that your devotion to God shall increase and overflow into good works and pious prayers and supplications.

I do not know how to pray without ceasing. How shall I begin to pray at all times if I cannot even pray at all?
The Spirit knows you cannot pray as you ought, therefore, as often as is needed you must acknowledge your own inability to pray as you ought and to seek God's help even before praying.
Pray that you may pray better and pray that your prayers might be heard.

Why should I pray that prayers will be heard?
So that you will not doubt that what you have prayed has been heard by God.

How do I pray that my prayers may be heard?
Say Amen, after you are done praying and make the sign of the cross and invoke the name of the Trinity.

Why should I say Amen?
Amen means Truth and So be it! and Let it be so!, therefore it is itself a prayer by which you seal your prayer with your own wills approval.

Why after the end of the prayer?
You should say Amen at the end of the prayer to acknowledge that all your prayers are brought to God through the Amen, our Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful and true witness and great high priest.

Why should I make the sign of the cross?
You should make the sign of the cross whenever you pray because you must sign yourself with the sign of salvation that is the holy cross of Christ Jesus our Lord.
For if anyone preaches to you another Jesus who was not crucified let them be put out of the Church.
We adore Christ and we bless Him, because by His Holy Cross and Glorious Resurrection He has redeemed the world.

Why should I invoke the name of the Trinity?
You should invoke the name of the Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: because you were baptized in this name and you shall live and die with the grace of baptism, by which you are saved.
For by worshipping and serving the Undivided Trinity in Supreme Unity you are saved: chosen by the Father, made obedient by the most precious blood of Christ and sanctified by the All-Holy Life-Creating Spirit of God.

[eschator83]

May I share a prayer I wrote to encourage me:

Heavenly Father,
Help us to pray.
Clear our minds of our earthly concerns and distractions.
Help us feel Your Presence around and within us,
deep in our souls.

Help us understand that we were created in Your Image,
with Love, freedom, and the potential to seek perfection
and to be healed through Your Grace and Guidance.

Help us begin our prayer by praising You, Creator of the universe.
We praise Your Love, Your Goodness, Your Power, and Your Truth.

Help us thank You for giving us life, and opportunity,
and for Your Grace of Love, Hope, and Faith.
We thank You for Your Guidance,
Your Patience, and Your Forgiveness,
and for sending our Lord Jesus as our Model and Savior,
and our Holy Spirit as Advocate and Comforter.

We ask that You help us
to understand and follow Your Word and Will,
to strengthen our Faith,
and to protect us from evil and sin.

We ask in the Name of our Lord Jesus,
Amen

Writing prayers has made me much more sensitive to questions about whether the words that occurred to me are appropriate.  It make sense to me that prayers which are not in accordance with God's Word and Will are very unlikely to be fulfilled.  I would be most grateful for your comment, suggestion, etc.

[Benedict]

Heavenly Father,
Help us to pray.
Clear our minds of our earthly concerns and distractions.
Help us feel Your Presence around and within us,
deep in our souls.

Help us understand that we were created in Your Image,
with Love, freedom, and the potential to seek perfection
and to be healed through Your Grace and Guidance.

Help us begin our prayer by praising You, Creator of the universe.
We praise Your Love, Your Goodness, Your Power, and Your Truth.

Help us thank You for giving us life, and opportunity,
and for Your Grace of Love, Hope, and Faith.
We thank You for Your Guidance,
Your Patience, and Your Forgiveness,
and for sending our Lord Jesus as our Model and Savior,
and our Holy Spirit as Advocate and Comforter.

We ask that You help us
to understand and follow Your Word and Will,
to strengthen our Faith,
and to protect us from evil and sin.

We ask in the Name of our Lord Jesus,
Amen

Amen
May the Lord graciously reward you

Writing prayers has made me much more sensitive to questions about whether the words that occurred to me are appropriate.  It make sense to me that prayers which are not in accordance with God's Word and Will are very unlikely to be fulfilled.  I would be most grateful for your comment, suggestion, etc.

You are onto something with the words but it is important to remember that God listens to your heart and doesn't listen to your lips when your heart does not pray.
Your heart must pray whenever your mind or your lips pray and this prayer must be made in the Holy Spirit.

[Benedict]

Here is a prayer that I wrote December 10th 2019
God has given me holy fire on my tongue to light the candle of my body and illuminate my mind.
The Light of God dwells in my heart as a lantern that burns brightly.
The Lord reigns in the hearts of humanity, this is the Heavenly Kingdom of God.
Not by fear but with love do people serve the Lord Jesus Christ and pray to our Heavenly Father.
O Qadosh Abba, Sacra Patri, Pateras tis Doxas, Holy Father of Sacred Glory
I ask for the healing of the sick, the comfort of the sorrowful, the purification of the hearts of humanity, the courage for the cowardly, strength for the weak, manna for the hungry, wisdom for the fool, instruction for the student, glory for You and Your Son and Your Church and Her Saints, for the salvation of the living and the dead, freedom for those in bondage, relief for the oppressed, liberty for those who suffer from tyranny, for an age of Your mercy that would satisfy those who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God.
Father of Eternity, Your Sacred Name you reveal as Immanuel meaning ‘God with us’ and as Jesus meaning Salvation which is derived from Joshua which is God is Salvation.
God you are with us to bring us Your Eternal Salvation.
You are the Giving God.
You gave Yourself to us on the Cross in Your Son.
You gave Yourself to us through Your Spirit of Holiness.
You gave us Your Name as the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Heavenly Father, You revealed long ago that You are One.
I know that there is only One True God whom Jesus Christ came to reveal.
Almighty Father, I know that You do not tolerate rivals.
Father of Light, You have revealed that You created Heaven and Earth with Your Word.
Beautiful Unity of Holy Persons,
Thrice Blessed,
Thrice Holy,
Thrice Divine.
Perfect Triune God of Love, Faith and Hope,
Supreme Sovereign of Grace, Peace, Mercy and Truth, have mercy on us sinners.
Holy Father, You alone are Holy, You alone are Good, You alone are Merciful; have compassion on us miserable sinners, bring us into the light, show us the way to truth, redeem us from sin that we might praise you all the days of our lives.
I know that nothing is impossible for You, our God of Holy Miracles, our Champion of Wonders, our Merciful God.
Please Heavenly Father I ask that Your Divine Will would be done and that many souls would be saved and that Your Heavenly Kingdom would appear throughout the Earth making the Earth a reflection of Heaven.
Father bring the salvation of many souls for the glory of Your Name and the good of Your Holy Church.
I ask this in Jesus Name.
Amen.

[eschator83]

I pray we are all continuing to deepen our communion with the Divine Trinity, Angels, and Saints.  I regret deeply having lost track of this thread, almost certainly because late April is our time for getting ready for summer camping.  I hope we can discuss further here our prayer progress and also our writing efforts to encourage each other.  I find myself writing almost every day on a topic that often surprises me, Talks with my Angel, which is a record both of my prayers, my sense of Angelic responses, as well as a summary of Angelic Scripture and other Church literature.  I welcome comments, suggestions, and other critique of any of my comments, and hope it's OK to throw something similar out occasionally in the hope of improvement of course.

[Benedict]

Having spoken briefly on the necessity of prayer let us now consider the topic of prayer itself.
Q What is prayer?
Prayer, very broadly, is to do what is necessary to please God. Prayer us thus an action in which one intentionally performs an act with the purpose of pleasing God and/or to obtain help from God. In a more narrow sense, prayer is an act of religion whereby one's duties of justice are performed through the operations of the soul in cooperation with grace. In the common sense in which the faithful are instructed, prayer refers to communication between man and God either by means of words or of thoughts. However, corporal prayer, that is prayer of the body, is simply to perform a physical act for a religious purpose namely to worship God or serve others for the sake of God. In this sense, one should consider that both the corporal and spiritual works of mercy are capable of becoming prayers when the intention behind them is the love of God and the love of neighbor because of God. In another sense, intellectual prayer is an action which belongs to rational creatures, namely Angels and humans. Accordingly, intellectual prayer is a raising of the mind to God in pursuit of union with God. Nature, by its function as a part of Divine Providence may said to solely operate in a state of worshiping God yet this is not a free and rational worship but a self-revelation of God by means of created agents which dimly reflect the harmony found within the Undivided Trinity which exists as mystery of personal loving communion which may be described as prayer between the Divine Persons to one another as they communicate their love for one another in a mystery of Divine Joy. Returning to the aspect of prayer as action intended to please God, we should understand that God in Himself is perfectly content with His own Most Holy Mystery of Love by which He both is Joy and communicates Himself from Father to Son and Son to Father and from Father through Son to the Holy Spirit and from Holy Spirit to Son and Father and from Father and Son to Holy Spirit. It is this Divine Ecstasy which God represents to us as His Eternal Being and Life. Now the word ecstasy literally means to be raised up and it is used to describe a type of prayer by which the action on the part of the soul ceases to be active and the action on the part of God within the soul becomes active. Ecstasy, whether momentary or prolonged, is a ravishing of the heart by the Love of the Holy Trinity which raises up the soul to encounter, directly, but dimly the prayer of God in God. It is in an ecstasy where the rational faculties of the soul cease to operate and where the operation of the Holy Spirit takes place at an unimaginably higher degree than is possible for the nature of the unglorified soul who has yet to enter into the beatific vision and participate directly and without mediation in the essential reality of God's living life of prayer. Now returning back to intellectual prayer, the highest form of intellectual prayer may be understood as meditation or focused concentration and consideration of God and the truths which He has revealed so that one may come to grasp them completely and by the grace of God come to comprehend them in so far as it is possible. Beyond meditation is the prayer of contemplation whereby one engages in delight in God and enjoyment of comprehension of divine truths and the will raises itself up by means of the abiding charity which is found in every soul in a state of grace. The prayer of contemplation is intended to bring the will by means of the memory to perform acts of love for the contents of faith but in particular in delight in God Himself and every other truth which He has revealed for our salvation in relation to God in Himself who excites our will to marvel at so many acts of love which He has shown to us, which we return in like manner by our own acts of love and adoration and worship.

Thus the consideration of prayer may be chiefly summarized as thus:
Prayer consists in pleasing God using the soul and body by word, deed or thought. It pleases God for us to ask for His help and thus prayer is a means of receiving God's assistance and a direct means of fulfilling our obligation as rational creatures to God through worship according to Spirit and Truth. Prayer also is religious service performed according to the will of God. Prayer may become intellectual through the consideration and remembrance of God and His revealed truths. Prayer becomes affective when aspirations of love are directed to God. Prayer becomes contemplative when the object of prayer is grasped by the intellect without ambiguity or confusion. Contemplative prayer is directed by the will through the memory by the virtue of infused supernatural virtue of charity which exists in every person in a state of grace. The practice of contemplation is conducive to the increase of love for God and the appreciation of, enjoyment of and delight in the contents of faith.

[eschator83]

Your comments on levels or stages of prayer here and in other threads bring to my mind images of a ladder to Heaven. and an ascent of Mt Carmel, and lead me to wishing I could reach a more clear image of Heaven and of course the Face of God which was referred to so often in the Lenten Scriptures and Office.  Growth in Spirituality seems an essential objective of prayer, and your emphasis on the action of prayer to please God and to request intercession for Salvation for ourselves and others seems possibly even more important.  The Church consistently calls us to growth, ascent, improvement in all aspects.  Do you believe prayer for visions of Divine Essence is pleasing to God?

[Benedict]

Your comments on levels or stages of prayer here and in other threads bring to my mind images of a ladder to Heaven. and an ascent of Mt Carmel, and lead me to wishing I could reach a more clear image of Heaven and of course the Face of God which was referred to so often in the Lenten Scriptures and Office.  Growth in Spirituality seems an essential objective of prayer, and your emphasis on the action of prayer to please God and to request intercession for Salvation for ourselves and others seems possibly even more important.  The Church consistently calls us to growth, ascent, improvement in all aspects.  Do you believe prayer for visions of Divine Essence is pleasing to God?

Let us refer to a vision I was given
"The golden ladder
By reading the Gospels and the Scripture; it was as though I had begun to climb a ladder made of pure gold upwards towards a city in the clouds.
After I had ascended the ladder by good deeds and faith I came to the Gate of Heaven.
Past the Gate of Heaven I could see Jesus teaching the disciples and the angels taking notes of what the Lord said.
I found the Virgin Mother adoring the Father and speaking kind words on behalf of sinners.
Each of the Apostles taught how to live and die for the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
An angel flew throughout Heaven singing the Eternal Gospel of Heaven."
And as I said elsewhere "Thanks be to God for giving me such a vision
The University of Heaven is always accepting applicants
The studies are enthralling and the professors are the greatest
The Principle of the University is the greatest Teacher."
Your desire for a clearer vision of heaven and the Face of God is itself a prayer. Longing for the truth is an affective act of the will in a state of humble acknowledgement of one's own insufficient knowledge.
Only by a special grace can the Divine Essence be seen upon earth. Ordinary visions of God do not unveil His essence but imprint knowledge of the activity of God upon the soul. The distinction is between knowing who God is by an understanding of His actions and who God is by the very nature of His being.
Rather, it is better to pray that God would give you the grace of clarity of mind and purity of perception of spiritual things.
Spirituality is understood both as interior life and exterior devotion. By our way of treating and relating to others we pray to God and in the hidden tabernacle of our soul we pray to God.
"That a man have trust in the petition of his prayer through trust in God, is the chief part of the gift of faith." We know that God with certainty that God withholds nothing good for our salvation if we ask for it with humble, hopeful and devout faith. The Scriptures concur that we should ask so that we may receive.
It is also important to know that prayer is part of the relationship we maintain with God. A state of grace is truly a matter of friendship with God. If God is your friend, speak often and lovingly to Him and bring your concerns, your longing and your requests and gratitude to the Greatest of Friends. God is swift to meet you with everything that you need and more out of the gracious bounty of His Love. For He has given us the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.