Throughout the history of the Church there have been may kinds of devotional prayers.   Often we may be shocked by their radical nature.  But should we not empathize with the person who formulated these prayers?  What must their life experiences have been like for them to be led to such an extreme?  Let us take up two such prayers and listen for what lies "behind the words".  Listen for what is unspoken but which expresses devotion in prayer:

Nickolaus von der Flüe, the patron Saint of Switzerland, prays:

„My Lord and my God, take everything from me that keeps me from you!
My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me to you!
My Lord and my God, take me to myself and give me entirely to yourself!
Amen.“

And Meister Eckehart writes in his "Words of Wisdom ":

"Therefore, the best prayer we can pray, should say,...'Lord, give me nothing, save what you will, and do, Lord, in every way what and how you will'..." (Meister Eckehart p.102)

To simply adopt prayers of this type can sometimes lead to an inner untruthfulness. We can, however, protect ourselves by meditating word for word until something resounds and  vibrates in us.  It would be better, however, for us to formulate our own prayers.  It should be prayers in which we bring our deepest concerns to God - requests that are not extinguished by new desires we may have tomorrow, but concerns we bring to God day after day.

With such a personal prayer we can begin each day or every prayer time.  Thereby, we bring our specific requests and concerns of the day in contact with the longing that runs through our life.  So, to a certain extent, we daily tune the "instrument of our life" with the "pitch" of our yearning for God which is none other than a "resonance" with the longing God has for us.  The comparison has already been used:  as the string of a violin begins to resonate with the vibration of the tuning fork (see: the essence of the spiritual symbol), so we tune ourselves each day with its realities to harmonize with the intention of God for us.
When over many years we daily pray such a personal prayer we begin to experience two things. First, this prayer grows deeper in us and ripens slowly and organically to ever greater depth and authenticity.  Secondly, we grow through this prayer by bringing all the daily happenings and demands into the prayer.  Thereby, we notice if we have departed from the way given us previously in an important situation.

Formulate a prayer in your own way, seeking to give an answer of love to the love of God. Can you honestly express this as a desire or longing for God?