What is prayer? It is commonly held to be a conversation. In a conversation there are always an “I” and a “thou” or “you.” In this case the “Thou” is with a capital “T.” if at first the “I” seems to be the most important element in prayer, prayer teaches that the situation is actually different. The “Thou” is more important, because our prayer begins with God. In his Letter to the Romans, Saint Paul teaches precisely this. According to the apostle, prayer reflects all created reality; it is in a certain sense a cosmic function.

Crossing the Threshold of Hope, by John Paul II