Roberta Bondi On Prayer

"You know, one of the Abbas was asked one time which was the most
difficult virtue to acquire, and he went through the whole list of one
virtue after another, and then he concluded by saying, "But prayer is
the hardest of the virtues because prayer is warfare to the last
breath." In prayer, we are likely, and it’s certainly what we want, to
see ourselves as we really are. We can’t expect that we are going to be
healed of the deep wounds of our heart without seeing what those wounds
are. It’s also not a peaceful activity when we discover or come face to
face with the reality of the world."

—Roberta Bondi

Dr. Bondi is a professor at Emory University in the Candler School of Theology.  "Learning to Pray," an interview with Dr. Bondi, is available here.