When does prayer begin?
As already mentioned, we can differentiate between meditation and prayer on the basis of the meditator's motivation.
The attitude determines the value of the action
Someone who builds a church - like Francis of Assisi - to praise God and lead people to Him, does so with precisely this intention.
We could therefore say that the manual work involved in building the church already becomes praise to God as soon as it is carried out with this awareness.
God would attribute the same value to the action that leads to laying the foundation - the building of the church - if this heartfelt attitude is behind it.
Meditation directed towards God
Similarly, meditation carried out with the motivation to come closer to God already has the value of a prayer - even if we initially only prepare the foundation for the inner gathering.
In this section, we want to look at prayer practices that originate from the tradition of the prayer of the heart.
We will also take a closer look at the inner attitude that leads us more directly to God.