I'll confess that I've noticed that I used to pray best and most often when there was a problem in my life.

But for a while it was the opposite... when my teenagers were rebelling and I was creating ulcers, I got mad at God, "But I was a good kid!" I'd say, shaking my symbolic fist, and would not speak with Him... my loss, not His.

Now I see that I would rather be close to God and pray a lot, no matter what. It is difficult to do this, because there are many distractions and distractors that take our time and energy away from God. But I can do this because now I have more serenity in my life than I used to... which resulted from my praying more often, which resulted in more serenity. So, it's a good cyclic loop, or good positive feedback, as us engineers would say.

To me prayer and worship both come from the inside, God's voice may be disguised as your conscience... the little voice in the back of your head... but prayer and worship are manifested through our actions with others.

As I've gotten closer to God, on a good day, I think about Him all of the time, or many times a day. When I first wake in the morning, I greet God, then I jump in the shower and think about the day, formulate plans, and think about what's going to happen. I say "there's nothing that will happen today that You and I together can't handle." I ask for discernment and direction, I ask for His blessing, and I ask for His help. I hope it's somewhat like having a friend with you all day.

If later on I end up in a meeting with someone who has given me problems in the past, I ask Him to help me with self-restraint, to keep an open mind, and for forgiveness. I try to keep His commandments as the day goes on, and as I interface with others. The day offers plenty of opportunity to be good to others, as Jesus said to do. This is also prayer to me.

It took me some time to begin to develop this good habit... and I'm still working on it. I have my bad days too. It helps to program your computer to hourly remind you to pray.

How do I talk with God? This has always intrigued me. Everyone does it differently. Personally, I don't think in words, but in pictures and concepts (words are too slow for me). So, I thank God or ask God questions using mental pictures and concepts. When I listen to Him, the answers come back from the back of my head in emotional and logical concepts. I know then what I have to do.

There is a calmness that comes over me when I think thusly, and dedicate my day and my actions to the Lord, and help others. Some people claim this is called "having the Spirit within."

When I started typing this in earlier, I asked the Holy Spirit to be with me so that my result would not be a performance, but an act of love towards my fellow man.

How do I know it's God talking to me? Sometimes I ask for him... I was taught to begin my prayers with an invocation: + In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen. I also listen, and I think. This sounds simple, but is not. It's really difficult to listen in this complex world. Sometimes God uses a two-by-four on me, as when I had a motorcycle wreck. Most of the time, it's more subtle... I'm an educated, trained and experienced engineer, thus I have long struggled with faith and trust. If something happens that has a long-shot probability, it grabs my attention. If it happens several times, the hair goes up in the back of my neck, I drop what I'm doing, and I listen.

Prayer needs doing too. I do believe in what what St. Ignatius of Loyola said "Pray as if everything depends on God, but act as if everything depends on you," I strive to observe needs and in helping others with these needs. These could be as simple as giving someone some of my time and a shoulder to cry on in support, or as complex as grabbing my hammer and fixing a tornado victim's home. Doing is prayer too.

I struggle with some fascets of prayer. For instance, I have trouble with some people that just take and take, or that tell me what to do (their way is the only way), or that believe that they are holier than thou, or that are otherwise vexious to my spirit. These are big distractors, and I don't know how to deal with them yet, so I stay away from them.

Hope this helps you.

Given with brotherly love.

Willy