What Mental, or Inner, Prayer is and What Forms it Takes

Mental, or inner, prayer is when the one praying, having gathered the mind within the heart, from there sends up prayer to God not with an audible voice but with silent words, glorifying Him and giving thanks, contritely confessing sins before Him and asking of Him the spiritual and bodily goods he needs. One must pray not only with words but also with the mind, and not only with the mind but also with the heart, so that the mind may clearly see and understand what is being spoken in words, and the heart may feel what the mind is contemplating in the process. All of this together is what true prayer is; and if something from this is lacking in your prayer, then it is either imperfect prayer, or not prayer at all. You have surely heard such expressions as: verbal prayer, mental prayer, prayer of the heart—and perhaps also discussions of each of them separately. Why does this division of prayer into its parts arise? Because through our negligence it sometimes happens that the tongue utters the holy words of prayer while the mind wanders goodness knows where; or even the mind understands the words of the prayer but the heart does not respond to them with feeling. In the first case, prayer is only verbal and is not prayer at all; in the second, mental prayer is joined to verbal, and this is imperfect, incomplete prayer. Full and true prayer is when the prayerful feeling is united with the prayerful word and the prayerful thought. By the grace of God there is also prayer of the heart alone—and this is spiritual prayer, moved in the heart by the Holy Spirit; the one praying is aware of it, but does not make it, rather it makes itself in him. Such prayer is the possession of the perfect. The prayer that is commonly accessible and required of all is that with the prayerful word there should always be united both thought and feeling. There is yet another prayer, which is called standing before God, when the one praying, having gathered himself entirely within the heart, mentally contemplates God as present in and with him, with the corresponding feelings: sometimes of the fear of God and reverent wonder at His greatness in all things, sometimes of faith and hope, sometimes of love and surrender to His will, sometimes of contrition and readiness for every sacrifice. This state comes when one is deepened in habitual prayer of word, mind, and heart. Whoever prays long and as one ought will have such states more and more frequently, and finally such a state may become constant—and then it is called walking before God, and is unceasing prayer. In such a state dwelt holy David, who testifies of himself: ”I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved” (Ps. 15:8). Therefore, my brother, if you desire your prayer to be fruitful, never limit yourself in prayer to the mere recitation of prayers, but pray simultaneously with the mind and the heart: with the mind—understanding and being conscious of all that is being prayed, with the heart—feeling all of it. Above all, pray with the heart. Prayer that bursts forth from the heart, like a lightning bolt, passes through the heavens in an instant and appears before the throne of the all-merciful God. And God heeds it above all else and is inclined by it. It was with such prayer that Moses prayed before the Red Sea and immediately heard the voice of God: ”Why do you cry to Me?” (Ex. 14:15)—and received from God the power to deliver his people from the danger threatening them.