Sayings of the Holy Fathers:

"When you pray with prayers to which you have grown accustomed - from praying them over and over again - remember that the Lord is from all eternity the same. Your heart may change and grow cold, but the same words of the same prayer still have the same power with the Lord, Who Himself is the same, "yesterday, today, and forever."

St. John of Kronstadt

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"When praying heedfully, guard yourself with great caution, so as to pray in Psalms and to chant prayers with fear, joy, firm zeal, and a low bow to the divine icon. For you will find in the Psalms both instruction and prayer. Let us not pronounce the words only with the tip of the tongue, but pray with our whole heart. Join into one the body, the soul, and the mind."

St. Paisius Velichkovksy
[Little Russian Philokalia, Vol. IV]

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"To describe it with the boldest expression, prayer is a conversation with God. Even if we speak with a low voice, even if we whisper without opening the lips, even if we call to Him only from the depths of our heart, our unspoken word always reaches God and God always hears. Sometimes, however, besides speaking, we lift our head and lift our arms to heaven. In this way, we are underlining the desire that the spirit has for the spiritual world. We are striving with the word to raise the body above the earth. We are giving wings to the soul for it to reach the good things on high."

St. Clement of Alexandria