Virtues of Mary - Continual Mental Prayer (Part 2 of 11)

You'll have to forgive me for not doing these in order. I will do them in the order in which I see fit for any number of reasons. It should be understood that mastery of any one of these most likely means mastery of all. This is what we should strive for.

Some thoughts on Continual Mental Prayer from the original post:

Continual mental prayer -- Luke 1:46-47 , Acts 1:14
Prayer is raising our minds and heart to God or requesting good things from God as our Blessed Mother asks for us and listening with our hearts to words He speaks to our inner-most being and responding with praise and thanksgiving.
True devotion must not stop with our devotional prayer life. True devotion involves thoughts and actions that flow from a heart of love for God and neighbor.

I think the concept of continual mental prayer is one that most would understand. It is, after all, exactly what it says. It is to pray in every single moment of our lives. It is to listen to God, petition Him, praise Him, LOVE Him in all that we say and do. We must give Him our hearts and souls and allow Him to be the sole thing for which we live. We must make Him the center of every word and action so that in each moment He is glorified. As it says above, true devotion involves thoughts and actions that flow from a heart of love for God and neighbor. The best way to have and embrace and nurture the love of God and neighbor is to pray. God alone gives us the ability to love and through Him we can love beyond limit. When we love someone in and through God, and we love God in and through other people, we will be living our lives to the fullest. Our life will be our prayer. Our continual prayer.

What better way is there to learn to love and to live in love than to converse with the God who gives us every part of Himself despite our sinfulness?