Affective prayer

Prayer that comes from the heart and evokes the emotions and feelings in expressions of loving devotion to God. Affective prayer involves the whole person and may be contrasted with dutiful or formulaic prayer that may involve only the mind.

Some examples of affective prayer are the Psalms from the Bible which express powerful feelings of friendship and love for God, the pouring out of the heart as practiced by Saint Alphonsus Liguori, or even the quiet stirring of the spirit as it reaches out in praise and joy to experi ence the presence of God.