I

For you, prayer is of utmost importance.

When you pray and you receive the work of the Holy Spirit,

your heart will be moved by God,

and strength to love God will issue forth.

If you do not pray with your heart,

if you do not open your heart to fellowship with God,

then God will have no way of working in you.

No one can be without fellowship with God, fellowship with God.

Without prayer, you live in the flesh, you live in the flesh,

you live in bondage to Satan, in bondage to Satan;

without true prayer, you live under the influence of darkness.

God hopes that brothers and sisters can engage in true prayer every day.

This is not about following the rules, but about achieving a certain result.

II

The minimum that God requires of man is that man can open his heart to Him.

If man gives his true heart to God and speaks what is truly in his heart,

then God is willing to work in him.

What God desires is not the crooked heart of man,

but a pure and honest heart.

If man does not speak from his heart to God,

then God won’t move his heart or work in him.

If man does not speak from his heart to God,

then God won’t move his heart or work in him.

Therefore, the crux of prayer is to speak to God,

speak to God from your heart,

telling Him your shortcomings or rebellious disposition,

laying yourself completely open before Him;

only then will God be interested in your prayers,

or else He will hide His face from you.

III

The minimum criterion for prayer

is that you must be able to keep your heart quiet before God,

quiet before God, and it must not depart from God.

It may be that, during this phase, you don’t gain a newer or higher insight,

but you must then use prayer to maintain the status quo—you must not regress.

This is the very least that you must achieve.

One sign of whether or not you have entered into spiritual life

is to see if your prayers are on the right track.

All people must enter into this reality;

they must consciously train themselves in prayer,

not passively waiting,

but consciously seeking to be moved by the Holy Spirit.

Only then will they be people who truly seek God.

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Concerning the Practice of Prayer