The impression is often given that the Holy Spirit is a plus factor. You have ordinary Christian.prayer, and then you have 'prayer in the Spirit', or 'charismatic prayer'. Fr. Hocken writes:
'It is my firm conviction that every new coming of God's Spirit enlivens and deepens every previous coming of the Spirit. All spiritual progress is deeper entry-into the one mystery, the person of Jesus Christ . . . I have tried to present a total Christian view of prayer, so that what is said covers all forms of praying, liturgical and non-liturgical, communal and individual, verbal and 'non-verbal’.
The author hopes that his book will be of use to Christians of -all persuasions, and makes no secret of the fact that he has been influenced by the Pentecostal movement. But he sees this as something within the Church, the Spirit working within Christianity. He makes the point that you cannot have a prayer group simply by gathering young people together and hoping for the best. There is a great body of experience and teaching,
and it is this which he wishes to communicate in this book for those who wish to pray in groups today.