The Church calls prayer a battle—against ourselves and “the wiles of the tempter” who tries to turn us from prayer and union with God. The battleground is the heart, the place where we choose life or death. That’s why the tradition speaks of holy violence. So if something is necessary for salvation it must be done with that kind of urgency: submit to God, resist the devil, don’t negotiate with the lie. St. Alphonsus Liguori puts it bluntly: “it is impossible for him who perseveres in mental prayer to continue in sin; he will either give up meditation or renounce sin.”

Mental prayer isn’t an optional “extra” for Christian life. It’s the way God forms the soul in recollection, purifies the heart, strengthens the will against temptation, and deepens your real relationship with Jesus Christ. Mental prayer is where faith becomes personal, where grace becomes lived, and where minds become sharpened: day by day, the soul learns to listen, to repent, to love, and to obey. Without interior prayer, we easily drift into a life without fire—spiritually weak.