To ‘pray’ is to ‘desire’ or ‘long for’ — but to desire what God would have us desire. True prayer is simply another name for the Love of God. Pure love is in the Will alone. It loves without feeling, as faith believes without seeing.
The heart in which the true love of God and true desire exist never ceases to pray. Love, hidden in the depths of the soul, prays without ceasing, even when the mind is drawn another way. Such a hidden desire in the soul ceaselessly draws God’s mercies.
Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
The Spirit helps us in our weakness; we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express (Romans 8:26).
Talk with God with the thoughts that your heart is full of, whatever the Spirit brings into mind. If you enjoy the presence of God, tell Him so. Tell Him your hopes, your fears, your joys and sorrows. But when you tell Him about your miseries, ask Him to cure them. Tell Him without hesitation everything that comes into your head with the simplicity and familiarity of a child sitting on its parent’s knee.
When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites… When you pray, go into your own room, shut the door and pray to your Father privately… And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like that, for your Father knows what you need before you ask (Matthew 6:5-7).
Growth in prayer is indicated by growth in simplicity and steadiness in attitude. Our communion with God becomes a simple and familiar union, far beyond the need for words. Simplicity is a rightness of the soul. Sincerity is actually a virtue below simplicity. Simplicity consists of a middle ground in which we are neither giddy nor too composed. God wants us child-like, not childish.
God's Word on That 