Standing in the Heart With Attention Before the Lord

The essence of prayer is noetic standing before the Lord with crying out to Him, in a feeling of either thanksgiving or praise or petition or contrition or fear or hope, or some other feeling belonging to the Lord—so that as soon as there is no feeling directed toward God, there is no prayer either. When someone is in feeling, he has no time to attend to external posture—neither the position of the whole body nor that of various parts such as the lips, tongue, or fingers. You must stand in the heart with attention, but not before your heart—before the Lord. If the Lord is not in your attention, then there is no prayer.

(Letter 899, vol. 5, p. 169–170)