imagine that person you talk to on the phone who only calls to complain or ask for something constantly pouring out words always about themselves and never about you you can't get a word in and then they simply say okay bye and hang up in Matthew 6: 7 and 8 we read and when you pray do not use vain repetitions as the Gentiles do for they think that they will be heard for their many words therefore do not be like them for your father knows what you need before you ask him I believe that's how God sometimes feels when we pray if you are like me your prayers might fall into four categories either they are dry and Bland like a piece of old bread or we repeat the same things incessantly like a scratched record or we treat God like a giant vending machine machine in the sky where we insert something and expect to receive something in return or Worse prayer becomes the most annoying and obligatory task possible like vacuuming the entire house on a scorching Day Lewis mentions in the screw tape letters you can always try to make their prayers very spiritual when in reality they are not let your patient try to to evoke feelings without words and words without meaning and not allow the patient to realize that he is trying to produce Faith by the sheer effort of the will when all efforts fail you can still manipulate the patient mind into thinking he is much more spiritual than he really is if you can get him to abandon the effort of prayer altto together whatever the situation we often stop praying and when we stop praying it's like we stop watering a plant our faith Withers I would like to share some thoughts and techniques I've learned along the way which have helped me escape these traps and deepen my prayer life I won't offer just a beautiful definition of prayer for I truly don't believe it can be captured with words alone instead I'll give you an image for me prayer is the mutual pouring of one heart into another until both become one there are three essential ingredients to make prayer prayer if any of these are missing your entire prayer crumbles I call them PHT have you ever been alone in a room perhaps waiting for something and another person enters the room you might not see this person maybe they enter from behind you but you are aware of their presence this is is the starting point of all prayer the awareness of another person's presence in the room otherwise we are just talking to ourselves in the dark the best phrase I have ever heard about prayer and of course I don't remember who wrote it was God hears our hearts not our words I'll repeat that God hears our hearts not our words so please let's forget about whether we're saying the right thing or using the right words and get straight to the point what is happening in my heart if we can speak from the heart we can speak the language of God in 1 Samuel 16:7 it is written but the Lord said to Samuel do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him the Lord does not look at the things people look at people look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart imagine if we reverse this we need to learn to listen to God's heart within our own not through words feelings or signs but through subtle and delicate Inspirations or movements within our being those moments of clarity in the soul in Romans 8: 26 and 27 we read in the same same way the spirit helps us in our weakness we do not know what we ought to pray for but the spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans and he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the spirit because the spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God when we Master this delicate language of the heart we are indeed conversing with God now bear with me remember those old diving suits where the diver depended entirely on the operator on the surface to pump air if the diver wanted to ascend he would tug the rope and wait for the operator to notice and pull him up the point is if you are the diver you trust your entire life in the operator's hands even your next breath depends on him similarly but much more profoundly we need to have this radical trust in God even for our next breath and here's the difference it is not just some operator at the top it is the god of the universe who loves us in an incomprehensible way Lewis mentions in the screw tape letters their task is to fix the patient attention on something visible and tangible so that he ignores the enemy's God's presence the enemy allows the suffering as a test of trust he wants creatures to learn to trust him even in darkness and uncertainty our job is to ensure they lose that trust and focus on visible and tangible things consider these words the entire universe before the Lord is like a grain of sand a drop of Morning Dew not a single Sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing and even the hairs on your head unnumbered therefore do not be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows and yes I paraphrased it is in the presence of whom we stand it is to whom I pour out my whole heart it is to whom I trust my next breath it is crucial to prepare before praying because remember we are in the presence of the god of the universe to the extent that we make ourselves present to God He makes himself present to us think about that I like to find a quiet and dark place with my feet on the ground Palms open ready to receive posture is important because our body manifests our soul if our body is open our soul is open our heart or our soul is spiritual this is the door to the spiritual where we will find God leou says in letters to Malcolm prayer in the sense of requesting is not what matters prayer in the sense of lifting the mind and heart to God is what counts so the first thing to do is enter that Inner Room our heart and close the doors to everything else let's start with a simple technique to relieve stress focus on all the noise in your mind the accumulated stress in your stomach anything that is Weighing on you imagine all of this as a red smoke gathering in the center of your chest keep breathing deeply and exhaling all this smoke focusing on your breath and Imagining the smoke passing through your lips next visualize the room you are in the environment around you the chair you are sitting in even your own body disappearing the world around you ceases to exist and with it all your worries Fade Away only your heart remains in a vast emptiness now invite God to enter just as we notice when someone enters the room feel the divine presence as it says in Psalm 46:1 be still and know that I am God I will be exalted among the Nations I will be exalted in the earth and this is crucial it's not about feeling feeling something but about knowing and trusting here there are no words our mind is silent it's just my heart and his nothing else we can simply stay here forever without saying a word just being however Lewis says in letters to Malcolm the greater part of my conscious prayers consist of words prayer like all spiritual work is not just something we do with our hearts but with our minds but to empty our minds of worldly problems we need to quiet our hearts first which is why he says it is not just something we do with our hearts this my friends is the deepest form of prayer but if we want to express something a structure can be helpful I usually start with dear Lord I am sorry for because remember we are on sacred ground here search your heart for those dark spots where have I failed myself God the people around me what are the obstacles between me and him if you don't know what to say ask him to show you he will show you in time and forget the idea of an angry and disappointed God he is the father of the prodical son running to meet us next let's pray for each other we are all facing something internally externally or both think on a large scale without limitations think of everyone who is struggling the sick the dying those who have lost hope and think of the overall balance of Good and Evil in our world and in our hearts I believe it doesn't matter so much what we say for he already knows what matters is if we truly feel it and if we trust that he can act because it is with love and faith that he works not with words and finally we pray for ourselves she Jesus invites us very tenderly tell me your fears in the simplest way possible tell me what you need tell me what you desire share with me your sorrows and joys pour everything out before me Lewis says in the great divorce I do not pray to change God I pray to change myself I have found that the more we talk about our fears the more they lose their power until we are no longer afraid of them it is essential to distinguish between what I want and what I truly need and remember Jesus cares much more about our spiritual well-being than our material well-being I'll speak for myself here sometimes we focus so much on asking for things that we forget other equally important matters in Matthew 6: 31 and 32 it says therefore do not worry saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for the Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them all Jesus says seek first me and I will give you all these other things after asking him for all the things I think I need I usually say Lord you know my needs better than I do this is what I want and after asking him for all the things I desire I say Lord if this desire comes from you let it be fulfilled if not please remove it from my heart either way we are in good hands the more we do this sincerely the more we realize there is only one thing we truly need and want and finally and this is probably the most important part we just say thank you it's not necessary to use fancy words just say it in your own words from your heart and be sincere I always end by saying Lord I know you can do all things let's be honest sometimes we just don't want to pray and much of this has to do with with all these concerns but these are just symptoms what really matters is do I truly love God do I truly believe that he is a living person I can talk to who hears me and truly loves me because if I believe that then there is nothing better I can do with my time on this small planet than to spend a few moments every day talking to the god of the universe in Romans 8 verses 38 and 39 it says for I am convinced that neither death nor life neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future nor any powers neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our lord the king of Peace the Perfection of everything I desire of what I need of what I am seeking Lewis says in this problem of pain we are not sufficiently like God to understand his answers we may pray and not receive what we ask for because what we want is something far inferior to what he is willing to give us and if you struggle with this it's okay we all struggle but then that's what we bring to our prayer openly and honestly in Lamentations 2: 19 it says pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord lift your hands toward him for the life of your young children who faint from Hunger at the head of every street try this for a week in your own way and I guarantee that at some point you will hear God somewhere deep in your soul when that happens remember it because that is what we build on and then the rest is just a great love affair where we are no longer just talking to God but conversing with God