How can a fixed, repeated form of prayer truly connect me with God?

It is not we who establish the connection with God. God turns to those He chooses. Whether the connection is real shows in a visible change: step by step we shed what is bad and become kinder towards other people.

The question is understandable. If a prayer takes the same form every day, how can it be personal? Yet the form is only the framework. What matters is what happens within it. And here one important thought applies: no human being can compel God to commune with them. God turns to those He chooses.

How can we tell whether someone is truly drawing closer to God? The sign is simple and never fails. Whoever draws closer to God must shed something bad at every step, a wrong attitude or a bad habit. Over time they become lighter and less bound to worldly things. This happens consciously, and they themselves notice it most clearly. The first verse above describes exactly this effect of prayer.

At the same time, the people around them also notice that they are changing. This change does not lead away from society. Whoever is truly connected with God returns to others as a better person. They become kinder and more tolerant, but not tolerant of wrongdoing. They are kind to the sinner, but not to the sin.

A feeling of closeness alone is therefore not enough. Such experiences exist in every religion, and often they are only imagination. Only when both come together, the inner change one feels oneself and the outer change that others can see, is the connection real. Then a prayer in a fixed form can become a living encounter every single day.