Chapter XLV. What is Mental Prayer

MENTAL prayer is the lifting up of our heart to God, accompanied with an actual or virtual request for something we desire.

It is an actual request, when we clothe our thought or desire with unspoken words, mentally forming such sentences as these, or others like them:—"O Lord, grant me this grace, for Thy Name's Sake;" or, "O Lord, I believe it is in accordance with Thy Will, and for Thy Glory, that I should ask and receive this grace from Thee; accomplish therefore now Thy Divine Will in me."

And when you feel the assaults of your enemies, say thus:—"My God, haste Thou to help me, that I yield not to mine enemies;" or, "My God, my Refuge, Thou Strength of my heart, help me speedily, lest I fall." And continue to pray in this way, until the struggle is over, manfully resisting your enemy all the while.

When the heat of the conflict is past, turn to your Lord, and present before Him the enemy who has been attacking you, and your own frailty in resisting him, and say:—"See, O Lord, the creature of Thy bounty, which Thou hast made with Thy Hands, and redeemed with Thy Blood. Behold also Thine enemy, who strives to pluck it out of Thine Hand, and to devour it. To Thee, O Lord, I fly for succour, in Thee alone do I trust, for Thou art Almighty and infinitely Good, and knowest my weakness, and my proneness to yield myself up a willing captive to my enemies, unless Thou help me. Help me, therefore, my Hope, and the Strength of my soul!"

It is a virtual request, when we lift up our heart to God to gain some grace, showing Him our need without moulding our thoughts into words or sentences. When, for instance, I lift up my mind to God, and present before Him the consciousness of my own inability either to defend myself from any evil, or to perform any good action; and burning in His presence with the desire to serve Him, I humbly and faithfully await His help, and admire and intently gaze upon the Lord Himself.

This confession of our weakness, enkindled with fervent desire and faith towards God, is a prayer which virtually asks for what I want; and the more convinced we are of our weakness when we acknowledge it, and the more ardent our desire, and the more vivid our faith, the more efficacious will our prayer be.

There is another and more swift kind of virtual prayer, which consists of a mere glance of the mind towards God, so as to implore His help, which glance is, as it were, a silent remembrancer, asking for the grace which we had before prayed for.

We should strive to form the habit of praying in this way, for it is a weapon of more value and assistance than I can say (as experience has shown), and one which we may lay hold of at all times and on all occasions.