Raindrops moisten the furrows, and tear-laden sighs rising from the heart soften the soul’s state during prayer.
It is less hard to check the downward flow of a river than for one who prays to check the turbulence of the intellect when he wishes, preventing it from fragmenting itself among visible things and concentrating it on the higher realities kindred to it. This is so in spite of the fact that to check the flow of a river is contrary to nature, while to check the turbulence of the intellect accords with nature.
~Ilias the Presbyter
Prayerful Life 