While prayer often consists of words, because we do have something to say, we praise God, we beg and bargain with God, we appeal to and pester God, and of course, we give thanks to God. Although speech may be the most common characteristic of prayer, prayer is so much more than speech alone. St. Thérèse of Lisieux, described prayer as “a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy” (Autobiography of a Soul). Thérèse understood that prayer is a unique kind of activity that expresses the height and depth and breadth of being. She knew that, above all, it was a response to the transcendent. St. Thérèse wisely understood that prayer does not begin in us. Prayer is always a response to an invitation that initiates in the God that created us in his image and likeness.
—from the book Prayer Everywhere: The Spiritual Life Made Simple
by Fr. Gary Caster
