When we pray, our words and petitions must be properly ordered. They must have quietness and modesty in them.

When we pray, our words and petitions must be properly ordered. They must have quietness and modesty in them. Let us consider that we are standing in the sight of God, to whom our bodily attitude and tone of voice must be pleasing. For if it is characteristic of a brash fellow to shout vociferously, the modest man on the contrary should pray quietly.

Moreover, the Lord himself in his own teaching instructed us to pray in secret, in hidden and remote places, even in our own bedrooms. This is better suited to our faith, for thus we know that God is present everywhere, that he hears and sees all and that, through the fullness of his majesty, he penetrates even hidden and secret places. For so it is written: “I am a God at hand, and not a God afar off. If a man hides himself in secret places, will I therefore not see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth?”

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