Five Tips on Effective Prayer
by 16th Century Catholic Sage

Do not think that it is necessary
to pronounce many words.

To pray is to say, "Let thy will be done." It is to form a good purpose. It is to raise your heart to God. It is to lament your weakness. It is to sigh at the recollection of your frequent disobedience.

This prayer demands neither method, nor science, nor reasoning. It is not necessary to quit one's employment. It is a simple movement of the heart towards its Creator and a desire that whatever you are doing, you may do it to His glory.

The best of all, to pray is to act with a pure intention and with a continual reference to the will of God. We are responsible for the efficacy of our prayers.

It is not by a miracle, but by a change of heart, that we are benefited, by a spirit of submission. Let us believe, let us trust, let us hope, and God never will reject our prayers.

You must pray with attention.

God listens to the voice of the heart, not to that of the lips. Our whole heart must be engaged in prayer. It must fasten upon what it prays for and every human object must disappear from our minds. To whom must we speak with attention, if not to God?

We must also ask with faith, a faith so firm that it never hesitates.

He who prays without confidence, cannot hope that his prayer will be granted. Will not God love the heart that trusts him?

We must pray with love.

It is love, says St. Augustine, that asks, that seeks, that knocks, that finds, and that is faithful to what it finds. We cease to pray to God, as soon as we cease to love him, as soon as we cease to thirst for his perfections. The coldness of our love is the silence of our hearts towards God. Without this, we may pronounce prayers, but we do not pray; for what shall goad us to meditate upon the laws of God, if it be not the love of him who has made these laws. Let our hearts be full of love then, and they will pray.

We must ardently desire that God will grant us spiritual blessings; and the ardor of our wishes must render us worthy of the blessings. For if we pray only from custom, from fear, in the time of tribulation; if we honor God only with our lips, whilst our hearts are far from him; if we do not feel a strong desire for the success of our prayers; if we feel a chilling indifference, in approaching him, if we have no zeal for his glory; we cannot hope for a blessing upon such heartless prayers.