Prayer as relationship

Jim Street's been hitting longballs lately on prayer. Consider this post:

Prayer is the substance of our relationship with God.

To look at prayer in that way is to reframe the conversation from one about the external rewards of prayer (i.e. whether our prayers are answered, etc.) to the intrinsic value of prayer (i.e. prayer as a value in itself)

I do not spend time talking with my wife because it pays in some external rewards. ("Hey, maybe if I talk to her she will make my favorite dish for dinner!"). I spend time talking with her because conversing is an intrinsic component of our relationship.

Amen. Jim also offers ten bits of advice for avoiding the "chatterbox monkeys" that interrupt our prayer.