Prayer & reflection on it

I am currently reading "Crossing: Reclaiming the Landscape of Our Lives" by Mark Barrett, OSB, which is centered on his struggle with prayer and the praying of the Liturgy of the Hours in his monastery. The Liturgy of the Hours is the prayer of the Church at different points in the day, and the author states that he does actually get bored with prayer.

Sometimes even we think "Are my prayers heard?" or "Why do I pray?" but let these thoughts go in one ear and out of the other. We believe in God and should not let doubt try to question our belief in God and the Tradition of the Church passed down through the Holy Church since the time of Christ. Prayer is not just talking with God but a dialogue between our soul and Him. Through prayer we give Our Lord thanks and praise and can ask petitions, but don't just let Mass and prayer become a habit and not an experience. Actually pray the words at Mass instead of just repeating them.

In the book the author describes our days as full of crossroads through a garden (the garden being a metaphor of our life), and only if we rely on God and think clearly about how to improve our lives through prayer can we hope to travel through life without going in circles. Make sure you see prayer as a personal dialogue with God and an opportunity to reflect on our day so far. If you, however, do not rely on God then we are nothing and surely can not find our way through a garden because it would undoubtedly seem a wilderness.

One day St. Franics saw his students reading about God and the saints in classes and was furious because it took away their prayer time and prayer time is the most important part of living with God. Prayer is the water of our soul for the seed of God's word and without water we can not hope to survive in the desert of the world around us.

I'll post a summary of the book when I complete it. I do however greatly recommend purchasing Christian Prayer, which I use to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. I love to use it.