Where does prayer come from? Whether prayer is expressed in words or gestures it is the whole man who prays. But in naming the source of prayer, Scripture speaks sometimes of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart (more than a thousand times). According in Scripture, it is the heart that prays. If our heart is far from God, the words of prayer are in vain.

The heart is the dwelling-place where I am, where I live; according to the Semetic or Biblical expression, the heart is the place "to which I withdraw." The heart is our hidden centre, beyond the grasp of our reason and of others. Only the Spirit of God can fathom the human heart and know it fully. The heart is the place of decision, deeper than our psychic drives. It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death. It is the place of encounter, because as image of God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant.

Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2562-2564).

Francis grew in his prayer experience of God through his ministry and meditation. In everything he was motivated by love. In his trials and difficulties he had no one to turn to except God. His own sharing with God of his daily experiences and the problems which confronted him, made him grow in intimacy with Him. We have already mentioned that Francis began experiencing the prayer of quiet at least occasionally alter his temptation in Paris. (Formative Biography, p. 183)

Now let us listen to his own prayer:

O eternal love, my soul needs and chooses you eternally! Ah, come Holy Spirit, and inflame our hearts with your love! To love or to die! To die and to love! To die to all other love in order to live in Jesus' love, so that we may not die eternally. But that we may live in your eternal love, O Saviour of our souls, we eternally sing, "Live, Jesus! Jesus I love! Live, Jesus whom I love! Jesus I love, Jesus who lives and reigns for ever and ever Amen.!" (Treatise on the Love of God, XII, 13)

We pray, you will tell me. Yes it is true. But the numerous obstacles which trouble you from every side, surely make difficult this exercise. Do they not put you in danger of leaving it out quite often? Do they not perhaps expose you to losing the spirit of prayer? That would be the greatest calamity. This calamity is in fact very common, even among priests, who on the other hand show great zeal for other responsibilities of the ministry. I point out some of the causes of this tragic disorder. There are numerous activities, constant and almost above your strength. These are attended to with little spiritual motivation or none at all. The obstacles to a spirit of prayer can be overcome only by strong spiritual motivation, in the determined effort to die to oneself and to unite oneself closely to our Lord. This is the fruit of prayer well made… (Fr. Peter Mermier, Circular to the Confreres in India, 17th April 1852; cf. Armind Nazareth, Novena in preparation for Founder’s Day, MSFS Nagpur Province, 1977, p. 20).