What Does it Mean to Pray with the Heart? (The Inner Life with Patrick Conley)

Image via Renata Sedmakova / Shutterstock.   Do you struggle with distractions in prayer? Do you wonder if you're "doing it right?" Msgr. Thomas Richter shares wisdom with Patrick Conley on The Inner Life. How can we stop going through the motions with our prayer life? Your heart has everything to do with it. 💔➡️💒 Be sure to listen to the whole episode!     Monsignor Richter shares this bold claim: "If the heart isn’t what’s praying, the prayer is worthless." Whew. Let that sit for a sec.     🫀 The Heart of the Matter: What Is Praying with the Heart?   So, what is the heart in this context? According to the Catechism (📖 paragraphs 2562 & 2563), the heart is the biblical “organ of relationality.” It’s where we relate to God... where our thoughts, desires, struggles, and joys are brought into communion with Him.   Msgr. Richter says to think of it like this:   👀 Eyes are for seeing   👂 Ears are for hearing   💓The Heart is for being with God     🧠 vs. 🫀 Head or Heart?   We often say prayer should move from the head to the heart, but Msgr. assures you that it doesn't mean switching from thinking to feeling.    Instead, it means going deeper: becoming more honest, vulnerable, and relational. Here’s the difference from Msgr. Richter:   Head prayer: “God, I’m angry.”   Heart prayer: “God, I don’t think You’re providing for me. I’m scared and I want control. Please change me.”   See the depth? That’s where the real transformation happens.     The Danger of a Wounded Heart   Monsignor warns: A wounded heart doesn't want to relate. It hides. It closes in on itself, just like Adam in the garden. He calls this the spirit of evil: "curved in on itself."   Sound familiar? Self-pity. Isolation. Resentment. These are signs of a heart that's forgotten how to reach out to God. 😞 Real prayer breaks that cycle. 🙌     💔 “God, I Miss You.”   One of the most beautiful takeaways from Msgr. Richter is this:   An awakened heart doesn’t spiral into shame when God feels distant. It relates the pain to Him.   You don’t have to feel God’s presence to be close to Him. In fact, naming your loneliness and giving it to Him is the closeness.   Pray it out loud:   “God, I miss you. It’s hard to enjoy life without You. I hold this pain before You.”That’s a prayer. That’s the heart talking.     Picture This: St. John at the Last Supper   Want a mental image of praying with the heart? St. John, resting his head on Jesus’ chest. He still had thoughts, desires, emotions, but they were all connected to Christ. 💖 That’s what we’re invited into.     🕯️Now go... pray with your heart. He’s listening.     The best way to listen to the Best of the Week is on our #1 Free Catholic App. It’s free and always will be! To get and share the Relevant Radio app, check it out here.