The third practice in following the Way of Love is the practice of Prayer. Bishop Mariann Budde addresses the practice of Prayer in the third chapter of her book, “Receiving Jesus: The Way of Love.” I have always found the practice of prayer to be a complex topic to address – and not because prayer is a difficult skill to master, but because prayer is often a misunderstood practice. A practice of simply “spending time with God” that most people believe they “should” be very good at, but in fact, they are not…so, sadly, the topic is put off for another day…and one’s life of prayer is delayed and delayed and delayed. Prayer is most often different for different people; and for the same person, prayer is different from one day to the next. One of the biggest barriers to an active and fruitful prayer life is to assume that “prayer” means one thing, or even a few things, and that all types of prayer work for all types of people. Just as different types of food, different forms of exercise, or different places for vacation give us varieties of joy and feed our souls, so it is with prayer. And once you have discovered the form of prayer that brings you close to God, you must learn to make it a frequent practice. Bishop Budde addresses all these aspects of prayer in chapter three with wonderful insight.