I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence–we need to listen to God because it’s not what we say but what he says to us and through us that matters. Prayer feeds the soul — as blood is to the body, prayer is to the soul — and it brings you closer to God. It also gives you a clean and pure heart. A clean heart can see God, can speak to God, and can see the love of God in others. ~St. Teresa of Calcutta