Sunday, November 23, 2014

What are the Major Expressions of Prayer?

The Christian tradition comprises three major expressions of the life of prayer, vocal prayer, meditation, and contemplative prayer. What they have in common is the recollection of the heart.

Vocal Prayer corresponds to a requirement of our human nature. It is associates the external with the interior prayer of the heart, following Christ's example of praying to his Father and teaching the Our Father to his disciples. We must pray with our whole being to give all power possible to our supplication, Even interior prayer, however, cannot neglect vocal prayer, Prayer is internalized to the extent that we become aware that it is God to whom we are speaking. Thus vocal prayer becomes an initial form of contemplative prayer.Whether or not our prayer is heard depends not on the number of words, but in the fervor of our souls.

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