God calls us to holiness. God expects us to be holy. And holiness essentially means loving God with all our heart. But as John says, we must love God not only with word and tongue, but in deed and in truth (1 Jn 3:18). We act like children of God when we love in deeds. And we love in deeds when we do what He expects of us, when we listen to God’s voice and try to fulfill it. Of course, the good news is this – that God always and only wills for our joy, that we be blessed. Therefore it is very important that we learn to recognize God’s voice. Certainly God speaks to us in many ways. Today we will speak about one of them – prayer.
Prayer is something very simple; it is talking with God. St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus says very beautifully: For me, prayer is an elevation of the soul, a simple glance toward heaven, a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial and joy (Autobiographical Manuscripts, C 25r).
Praying is actually not difficult at all, but we must know something very important, and it is so important that we should never forget it! We do not pray because when we pray we feel very good; we do not pray because we had a brilliant idea; we do not pray because we need something and must convince God that what we ask is truly necessary for us. Prayer is not our whim or desire. We must pray because God wants us to pray.
Jesus says in the Gospel that we must “always pray and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1). In the Garden of Gethsemane he repeats: “watch and pray” (Mt 26:41). Saint Paul often exhorts: “pray without ceasing” (1 Thes 5:15) and even “pray at all times” (Eph 6:18), he adds. And in this sense, something similar happens with prayer to what John tells us when he writes about love: we love because he first loved us (1 Jn 4:19). We too pray because God has first spoken to us and now he waits, he asks, for a response. Our prayer is always a response. Prayer is the will of God.
In Holy Scripture, God tells us in such an emphatic way that we must pray; therefore, it is an important matter. In fact, prayer is very important. Benedict XVI said that prayer is a matter of life and death (Angelus, 4-IV-2007). This means that we cannot live the divine life, the supernatural life, if we do not pray. If we do not pray as God expects of us, from a supernatural point of view, then we are already dead. Saint Teresa of Avila says that one who does not pray does not need the devil to tempt him. Satan can simply go on vacation. But whoever prays only fifteen minutes every day is inevitably saved.
But why is prayer so important? Mainly because only through prayer do we discover who God is and who we are. Saint Augustine says that the purpose of prayer is noverim me, noverim te. This is not easy to translate, but it means “I wish to know myself and to know You”. We therefore desire to know who God is and who we are. Until we know who God is and who we are, our life is still without meaning.
Only when we pray do we understand that God is Father, a merciful Father – a Father who is always with us, who loves us, who wants us to be joyful. Only when we pray do we no longer fear God and learn to trust Him. Only when we pray do we experience that the Lord is not far away, among the shining stars, but always beside us, helping us, encouraging us, blessing and forgiving us.
And at the same time, when we pray, we also discover who we are. First, we humbly acknowledge that we are sinners. Certainly, we are not always good. But we also discover that we are children of God – not always good children, certainly, but children of God. In this sense, Saint Josemaría says: Christ himself answers us: veritas liberabit vos – the truth will set you free. How great is this truth, with which the path of freedom in our life begins and ends! I tell you about it with the joy and certainty that comes from the bond between God and his creature, from the knowledge that we come from God’s hands, that we belong to the special love of the Most Holy Trinity, that we are children of so great a Father. I ask the Lord that we may decide to become aware of this, to enjoy it day by day – then we will act as free people. Do not forget that the one who does not know that he is a child of God does not know the deepest truth about himself, and in his behavior there is lacking the dignity and self-mastery proper to those who love the Lord above all. (Friends of God, 26)
And this is why, when the disciples asked Jesus: Lord, teach us also to pray. First He told them: When you pray, say: Father! (Lk 11:2). Certainly we can pray in many ways, and essentially there are two main ways: vocal prayer and mental or contemplative prayer. Both are necessary. The main difference between them is that during vocal prayer we use “fixed prayers”; during mental prayer we use our own words. But while praying, it is important that our prayer be childlike, because only then is prayer never introspection or a method of examination, but a conversation between a father and a child.
What could we talk about during prayer? In the Gospel we have a great example – the Our Father. When we pray, we should always pray according to the Our Father. We may not always have to use the exact same words, but we must certainly pray in that spirit.
First, as we have already said, during prayer we should always turn to the Father – Our Father, who art in heaven. Of course, we can also speak with Jesus or the Virgin Mary, because Jesus is the mediator between God and men (1 Tim 2:5) and Mary and the saints are our intercessors, since they are in communion with Jesus. But ultimately, through them we always communicate with the Father.
Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. When we pray, we can certainly ask. Jesus himself said that we must ask – ask, and it will be given to you (Mt 7:7). But it is even more important to tell the Father that we want to do His will. And this is why, during prayer, it is important to ask Him often: Lord, how can I help you? Can I do something for you? Show me your will! This is not always easy, because often what God asks is uncomfortable or difficult, but if His will is our happiness, then it would be easy to do it.
Give us this day our daily bread. Here we ask for two things. First, we ask for work. We need to pray for work, because work is very necessary for us. And at the same time, as we pray for work, we must also ask that we learn to turn our work into prayer. But secondly, our daily bread is also the Eucharist. Here we of course ask to receive the Eucharist. In fact, only when we pray do we understand that we need to receive the Eucharist more frequently – even every day. This also shows that only when we pray can we properly make use of the grace that God gives us through the Eucharist.
Forgive us our sins. During prayer, this is the main thing – to ask for forgiveness. But we also know that if we humbly confess our sins, then God immediately forgives us. Then we also discover that when we pray, we must thank Him. Our prayer is a good prayer when it is a prayer of thanksgiving.
As we also forgive our debtors. Forgiving people and praying for them is truly important. If we do not pray for people, it is certainly hard to forgive. If we do not pray for people, they always remain strangers. But if we pray, we understand that they are our brothers and sisters, that they are also children of God – perhaps not very good children of God (like us), but still children of God. Without prayer it is hard to be patient. In this sense, when we pray we help them and we help ourselves.
Finally, in the Our Father we also ask: do not lead us into temptation. To ask for help. Lord, protect me! This is a beautiful and humble prayer; probably the most typical prayer of children.
Praying is not difficult. Jesus teaches us how to pray, and through the Holy Spirit Jesus helps us to pray, because when I do not know how to pray: the Spirit also helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings (Rom 8:26). We only need to faithfully dedicate a little time each day to God, our Father.
Read more: Fifteen minutes with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
Spiritual literature:
– BENSON, Robert Hugh, The Friendship of Christ
– BOYLAN, Eugene, Difficulties in Mental Prayer