In his Letter to Proba, in our liturgy this week, Augustine sees  the desire for God at the heart of prayer. Prayer’s not a litany of needs (God knows what we need) or a search for new knowledge. We need to “pray always with unwearied desire.”

We pray to increase our desire for God.

“ At set times and seasons we also pray to God in words, so that by these signs we may instruct ourselves and mark the progress we have made in our desire, and spur ourselves on to deepen it.”

Words help us pray,  Jesus taught and he gave his disciples words of prayer. Much of Augustine’s Letter to Proba is a commentary on the words of the Our Father.  One of his greatest works is his “Commentary on the Psalms.” We need to pray with words at set times. They’re essential in our liturgy.

Augustine also recognized the need for short, frequent prayers. “The monks in Egypt are said to offer frequent prayers, but these are very short and hurled like swift javelins.” They’re quick reminders of God’s presence.

There’s another kind of prayer Augustine addresses in his letter– lengthy prayer. Jesus spent whole nights in prayer; he prayed at great length, giving us an example to follow. 

It’s not necessary to use words in long prayer, Augustine writes. In lengthy prayer, it’s the attitude of persistence that counts, knocking at the door of the One we’re seeking.

 “This task is generally accomplished more through sighs than words, more through weeping than speech. God places our tears in his sight, and our sighs are not hidden from him.”

Long prayer with sighs more than words, weeping more than speech. Not much is said about this kind of prayer today, I think.

In my community, the Passionists, it was a prayer that was recommended. It still is.