Ronald Rohlheiser is a Roman Catholic priest and member of the missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. In addition to being a speaker and writer whose books are popular throughout the world and whose weekly column is carried by more than 70 papers worldwide, he is president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. In this brief but edifying paperback, the author explores prayer and its benefits in our lives.

Rohlheiser begins with the premise that prayer is a struggle for many contemporary people since "we live in a world that is for the most part spiritually tone-deaf, where all the goods are in the store window, digitized, or reduced to a flat-screen." In addition, we have trivialized our longing by focusing on money, success, and the benefits of materialism. Prayer can grow out of solitude, interiority, and practice. But many modern men and women claim to be so busy that they don't have time for a prayer life; they often feel uneasy with inner exploration in a culture where people spend their days skimming the surface of things instead of diving deep.

Rohlheiser rejoices in the idea of prayer as lifting the heart and mind to God. Part of this practice is celebrating God's presence and grace in our lives. The author salutes the importance of affective prayer — meditation, centering prayer, praying the rosary, and devotional prayers of all kinds. For him, prayer involves unity and surrender. Rohlheiser suggests that maturity in prayer is signified by patience with God, the sustaining power of ritual, facing our demons, wrestling with God, overcoming anger and despair, and sensing God as our real mother.