It is of particular importance to place ourselves in the presence of the One with whom we wish to speak. Often, the rest of our prayer can depend on these first few minutes in which we strive to be close to the One whom we know loves us and awaits our supplication, an act of love, that we consider with Him a matter that concerns us..., or simply that we remain in His presence looking at Him and knowing that He is looking at us. If we take care with care, with love, of these first moments, if we really place ourselves before Christ, a good part of the aridity and difficulties in speaking with Him disappear..., because they were simply dissipation, lack of interior recollection.
In order to place ourselves in the presence of God at the beginning of mental prayer, we should make some considerations that will help us to remove other worries from our mind. We can say to Jesus: "My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here to listen to me. He is in the Tabernacle, really present under the sacramental species, with his Body, his Blood, Soul and Divinity; and he is present in our soul by grace, being the motor of our thoughts, affections, desires and supernatural works (...): that you see me, that you hear me!
Next," St. Josemaría Escrivá continues, "the greeting, as we are accustomed to do when we converse with a person on earth. God is greeted by adoring him: I adore you with profound reverence! And if we have ever offended that person, if we have treated him badly, we ask his forgiveness. Well, to God our Lord, the same thing: I ask for forgiveness for my sins, and grace to make this time of conversation with you good and fruitful. And we are already praying, we are already in the intimacy of God.
"But what would we do if the main person with whom we want to talk has a mother, and a mother who loves us? We would seek her recommendation, a word from her on our behalf! For to the Mother of God, who is also our Mother and loves us so much, we have to invoke her: My Immaculate Mother! And to St. Joseph, the nourishing father of Jesus, who can also do much in the presence of God: St. Joseph, my Father and Lord! And to the Guardian Angel, that prince of Heaven who helps and protects us.... Intercede for me!
"Once the preparatory prayer has been made, with those introductions that are de rigueur among well-educated people on earth, we can now talk to God. About what? Of our joys and our sorrows, of our works, of our desires and our enthusiasms? About everything!
"We can also say to him, simply: Lord, here I am a fool, not knowing what to tell You.... I would like to talk to You, to pray, to enter into the intimacy of Your Son Jesus. I know that I am close to You, and I do not know how to say two words to You. If I were with my mother, with that dear person, I would talk to them about this and that; with you I can't think of anything.
"This is prayer (...)! Remain in front of the Tabernacle, like a little dog at its master's feet, for the whole time fixed beforehand. Lord, here I am! It is hard for me! I would go that way, but here I remain, out of love, because I know that you are seeing me, that you are listening to me, that you are smiling at me "6.
And together with him, even when we do not know what to say to him, we are filled with peace, we recover the strength to carry out our duties, and the cross becomes lighter because it is no longer ours alone: Christ helps us to carry it.