The First Way of Ascent in the Heart to God

Prayer, or the stirring of the heart toward God, must be awakened and, being awakened, must be strengthened, or—which is the same—you must cultivate in yourself a prayerful spirit.

The first way to this is our reading or listening to prayer services. Read or listen to the prayer service as it should be done—and you will surely awaken and strengthen the stirring in your heart toward God, that is, you will enter into a prayerful spirit. In the prayers of the holy fathers there moves great prayerful power, and whoever fully, with all attention and zeal, enters into them, that person—by virtue of the law of reciprocal action—will surely taste of prayerful power, in proportion to how much your disposition matches the content of the prayer.

(Letter 227. Vol. 2, p. 34)