Do you ever feel like your prayer is pointless? You show up, but you feel nothing, "know" nothing, and it seems like you're just talking to the void. This experience of spiritual dryness is one of the most common and difficult challenges in the spiritual life, and it's the number one reason many people stop praying altogether.

In this episode, we explore the practical and profound antidote to this dryness: faith and hope. We dive into John Henry Newman's powerful distinction between "notional assent" (simply knowing and explaining facts about God) and "real assent" (letting those truths radically change how you live). This shift is the key to understanding what to do when your prayer feels empty.

We discuss how this concept, combined with St. Teresa of Avila's "determined determination," responds to dryness. It's not a sign of fai ...