So long as we do not die to ourselves, and so long as we are identified with someone or something, we shall never be free. The spiritual way is not for those wrapped up in exterior life.
The wonderful beauty of prayer is that the opening of our heart is as natural as the opening of a flower. To let a flower open and bloom it is only necessary to let it BE; so if we simply ARE, if we become and remain still and silent, our heart cannot but be open, the Spirit cannot but pour through into the whole of our being. It is for this we have been created.