Today, our reflection verse quotes Jesus telling the temple sellers that God’s house is a house of prayer. But we also know from church teaching that our house should be a house of prayer, as we are each individually a walking temple of the Lord. So, what exactly is prayer? Fr. Ron Rolheiser writes that there are four distinct kinds of Christian prayer: There is Incarnational prayer, Mystical prayer, Affective prayer, and Priestly prayer. Incarnational Prayer. St. Paul invites us to “pray always.” This means that we are to look for the finger of God in every event in our lives. That means looking at every event in our lives and the major events of our world, and asking ourselves: “What is God saying in this event?” Mystical Prayer is simply being touched by God in a way that is deeper than what we can grasp and understand in our intellect and imagination, a knowing beyond head and heart. So your head tells you what you think is wise to do; your heart tells you what you want to do; and your mystical center tells you what you have to do. Affective Prayer can bascially be summed up as devotional prayers (adoration of Christ, litanies, rosaries) as well as all forms of meditation and contemplation. At the end of the day, what we are all looking for is God’s voice, one-to-one, speaking unconditional love, lovingly saying our name. Lastly, there is Priestly Prayer. This is the prayer of Christ through the church for the world. We pray liturgically this priestly prayer, whenever we gather to celebrate the scriptures, the Eucharist, or any sacrament. As well we pray in this way when, in community or privately, we pray what is called the Liturgy of the Hours or the Divine Office where we join others around the world in a common prayer. A mature, spiritually healthy Christian prays in these four ways, and it can be helpful to distinguish clearly among these kinds of prayers so as to be praying always and praying with Christ.