The Four Degrees of Prayer

The Lord showed me that there are four degrees of prayer that are applicable to your life. The first is the Prayer of Strength. It comes when you begin to realize that God is your Father and you’ve got this vacuum in your heart. You’re full of sin, you’re full of anxieties and frustrations, and you have nowhere to go. The thirst you have gives you a sense of repentance, which enables you to “open the door” to God’s heart. Then once you repent, comes a prayer of the heart.

The Prayer of the Heart looks at God with a humble heart saying, “Lord I leave everything to Your will. I love You enough to accept all the nos and all the yesses. The Prayer of the Heart demonstrates a deep commitment that you are going to live a Christian life no matter the temptations or obstacles

The next prayer is the Prayer of the Mind, where you begin to examine yourself. This is where dryness comes in—that kind of empty feeling where you sense that God is far away and He’s not listening. Did you ever feel that way? It’s a good sign because it calls us to rise to a higher spiritual level. The Prayer of the Mind helps us dig into our own conscience and rid ourselves of all the junk.

And finally there is the Prayer of the Soul, when you feel a very deep presence of God, a deep sense of love. You begin to sense God’s presence in your neighbor. It’s the Father in you loving Jesus in your neighbor. That’s the highest form of prayer, because it’s unceasing.
---Mother Angelica, Little Book of Life's Lessons and Everyday Spirituality