Pray much, speak little

X

To pray for a long time is not the same as to pray by multiplying words. Lengthy talk is one thing; a prayerful disposition which lasts a long time is another. Excessive talking should be kept out of prayer. To talk at length in prayer is to perform a necessary action with an excess of words. To spend much time in prayer is to knock with a persistent and holy fervor at the door of the One whom we beseech. This task is generally accomplished more through sighs than words, more through weeping than speech. He places our tears in his sight, and our sighs are not hidden from him, for he has established all things through his Word and does not seek human words.

-- St. Augustine