Why do I feel less close to God than I used to?

There are two types of prayer. There is praying when we are walking, praying when we are driving, even sometimes praying when we are talking with somebody, praying when we are doing something. But then there is praying when we are praying: focused, diligent prayer that we have to actually cultivate and put effort and work into. That is the second reason I think people start to feel this drifting or lessening of their intensity with God.

There is a third type as well, which the saints often talk about. That grace, that presence of the Holy Spirit, that energy of God, comes and illumines a person, and they feel a certain closeness. But then, for reasons known only to God, he begins to pull it back a little. Not because he wants to punish us, not because he does not love us, but because he wants our relationship to be something consistent and stable through the highs and lows of life.