The elder said:
Whether we pray for ourselves or for others,
the prayer must be from the heart.
The problems of others should become our problems.
You have to prepare for prayer.
Read a bit of the Gospel or the Fathers and then pray.
It requires an attempt to take the mind to the divine space.
Study is like a gift which God gives us to direct us to greater spirituality. With study the soul is warmed.
Elder Paisios