3. Prayer from the Heart

World Scripture

There is a polish for everything that becomes rusty, and the polish for the heart is the remembrance of God.
Hadith of Tirmidhi (Islam)

“To serve the Lord your God with all your heart” [Deut. 11.13]. What is a service with the heart? It is prayer.
Sifre Deuteronomy 41 (Judaism)

Set me free, I entreat Thee from my heart; If I do not pray to Thee with my heart, Thou hearest me not. If I pray to Thee with my heart, Thou knowest it and art gracious unto me.
Boran Prayer (African Traditional Religions)

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Psalm 19.14

Always let a man test himself: if he can direct his heart, let him pray; if he cannot, let him not pray.
Talmud, Berakot 30b (Judaism)

Of all the prayers of the heart, the best prayer is the prayer to the Master to be given the grace of properly praising the Lord.
Adi Granth, Maru Ashtpadi, M.5, p. 1018 (Sikhism)

Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart… Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee… The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psalm 51.6-17

People are granted birth into this world by the kami. Accordingly, the mind of a person is something which communes with the will of the kami, and one must thus avoid doing anything which would impair that mind. To be visited with the blessings of the kami, one must first direct one’s mind wholeheartedly to prayer; to be granted the protection of the kami, one must make a foundation of honesty. In this way, the person’s pristine, undefiled mind will be awakened to the original, profound way.
Records of the Enshrinement of the Two Imperial Deities at Ise (Shinto)

Prayer is an act of daring. How else could a mortal utter a prayer before the Kings of Kings?
Nachman of Breslov (Judaism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Do not pray casually, but ask your original mind. Do not pray looking up into the sky, but look into your mind. Open the door of your mind.
(308:16, November 21, 1998)

When you pray, your heart should be as desperate as a baby crying for mother’s milk.
(18:185, June 6, 1967)

When you pray, do not think that God is up in the sky. God is right behind your mind. First you have to battle to focus your mind. As your mind and body become more and more united they rise up, connecting to the realm of resonance.
(306:255: September 23, 1998)

Do not pray when you are in a fickle mood. Rather, you should pray when you are in the most profound and heavenly state of mind. Your mind should abide at the center of your heart, not near the borderline. When you want to pray about an important matter in your life, first purify yourself. Make sure your environment is free from worldly distractions and your inner state is far removed from the borderline; then pray.
(123:80, December 12, 1982)

Pray with all sincerity, never wavering… “Heavenly Father, how can I best attend Thee? How sincerely have I attended Thee? Have I properly represented my family, my community, my tribe and my nation before Thee?” You can know the answer at once, and knowing it, you shed tears. Fallen people cannot attend Heavenly Father without tears of repentance. Without cleansing we cannot re-create our environment, which having been lost sorely needs re-creation…
Do you weep when thinking about your nation? Do you wail in repentance when thinking about the world? Since Heavenly Father is weeping for them, and the Lord [Christ] is also weeping for them, you people on earth should be doing the same. When you stand with God and Christ, you can participate in their life.
(171:19, December 5, 1987)

Whether I am in the east or the west, prayer helps me to move in a circular orbit around the Axis. I can then participate in the realm of life where God dwells. However, people usually do not live centered on the Axis. They live a casual life, as they want… Prayer is what tunes me to the center point.
(171:14, December 5, 1987)

How does one make a true prayer? By overcoming obstacles with patience, love and sacrifice. People who live this way see their prayers fulfilled. They do not even need to pray, since they are already advancing to fulfill it.
(112:52, March 29, 1981)