WHAT IS PRAYER?

WHAT IS PRAYER?

Prayer is doxology, praise, thanksgiving, confession, supplication and
intercession to God. "When I prayed I was new," wrote a great theologian of
Christian antiquity, "but when I stopped praying I became old." Prayer is
the way to renewal and spiritual life. Prayer is aliveness to God. Prayer is
strength, refreshment, and joy. Through the grace of God and our disciplined
efforts prayer lifts us up from our isolation to a conscious, loving
communion with God in which everything is experienced in a new light. Prayer
becomes a personal dialogue with God, a spiritual breathing of the soul, a
foretaste of the bliss of God's kingdom.

As we pray deeply within our hearts we grow in prayer. By the grace of God
we suddenly catch a glimpse of the miracle of the presence of the Holy
Spirit working within us. At first it is only a spark but later it becomes a
flame freeing and energizing our whole being. To experience the fire of
God's holy love, to give it space within us to do its cleansing and healing
work as a breath of the Holy Spirit, and to use it as light and power for
daily living -- such are the goals as well as the fruits of true prayer.

(sent anonymously to Fr. John-Brian, if you know the source, let us know...)