I am preparing a sermon on James 5:13-20 where the main thrust is prayer. I ran across a quote from Francois Fenelon (1651-1715), a French Roman Catholic theologian, poet and writer. He wrote regarding prayer:
“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, its pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell him your troubles, that he may comfort you; tell him your joys, that He may sober them; tell Him your longings, that He may purify them; tell Him your dislikes, that He may help you to conquer them; talk to Him of your temptations, that He may shield you from them; show Him the wounds of your heart that He may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell Him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others.”
Paul says that we are to “pray without ceasing,” (1 Thessalonians 5:17, ESV) and Fenelon gives us a picture of what that looks like.