Spiritual Guide Which Disentangles the Soul - Michael de Molinos - 1st Book - Chapter 5

More of the same- working through apparent dryness of prayer.
The soul is not idle, though it reason not.

Two sorts of Devotion:

Essential and true. The mind desires to do well, fulfill the commands of God, perform all things for the service of God, even though not all can be done as is desired because of human frailty. It is not accompanied with sensibility, but temptation, dryness, darkness. This comes from Grace.

Accidental and sensible. Good desires are accompanied with a pleasant softness of heart, tenderness of tears, or other sensible affections. It is a mistake to try to seek these. In fact he says to wean the will from seeking these. I assume these also come from Grace. But the warning seems to be that you can't make these happen. Jesus talks the disciples out of trying to stay on the mountaintop.

The sensible pleasures can be interpreted as favors from God, and although he says this is a temptation, I'm inclined to conclude that they are favors, and good, but the danger is the addiction to them, or addiction to re-creating them.

He even seems to be saying that these sensible pleasures, say tenderness of tears, can't be favors of God because SOUL IS PURE SPIRIT AND IS NOT FELT; AND SO THE INTERNAL ACTS AND OF THE WILL, AS BEING THE ACTS OF THE SOUL AND SPIRITUAL, ARE NOT SENSIBLE.

Is this just 17th century aversion to senses?

He says this type of devotion (sensible) is not God, but a product of Nature. You ought to set light by it (take it lightly) and even despise it.

Again, he says that don't be fooled by the apparent lack of movement in prayer. Don't get the impression that you are idle. He quotes St Bernard that "not to wait on God" is the greatest idleness.