The Importance of Prayer

The Importance of Prayer
           
As we continue our examination of the spiritual life, we must place first and foremost the reality and the importance of prayer.  Without prayer, the spiritual life is impossible.
           
Each of us is called into a marvelous relationship with God. After all, God created us. He redeemed us by shedding His Precious Blood on the Cross. He sanctified us by sharing His grace with us, His life, and by pouring out upon us the gifts of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live a life of holiness. God, who is ineffable Mystery, enables us to approach Him, to know Him, and to be in union with Him. This personal relationship with God happens in prayer.
           
The thought of approaching and having a relationship with God Himself often seems very daunting to us. We may suppose, “It must be very difficult to begin. I am sure that it is only for those who are very saintly, surely only for the very pious and those who live contemplative lives behind monastery walls. It definitely is not possible for me!”  That really is not true!
           
Well, let’s hear what a cloistered Carmelite nun, St. Therese of Lisieux, said about prayer. She did not say it in a theological treatise or a book on the spiritual life. She wrote it in three lines.
“For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven; it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
           
Another Carmelite nun who preceded St. Therese by over 300 years, St. Teresa of Avila, described prayer in the following manner.

“Contemplative prayer in my opinion is nothing else than a close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.”
           
We can see that prayer is not complicated, much less impossible.  Prayer does take dedication and commitment. But, in the end, it is a simple look to heaven. It is all about knowing God who loves us and loving Him in return. Prayer is turning to God in good times and in bad. It may be not so much that we cannot pray, but that we do not pray.
           
St. John Damascene, a monk who lived in the 7th and 8th centuries, underscores the simplicity of prayer. “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God, or the requesting of good things from God.”
           
Prayer, then, is a matter of our relationship with God. It is the way in which we deepen our knowing God.  Sure,we believe that God exists. We may know and believe some things about God. He is One God and yet a Trinity of Divine Persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He is almighty, all-knowing and everywhere.  Yet, prayer does not only help us to know about God.  It is all about getting to know God intimately.  It is all about  having an ever-deepening relationship of love with God, Who is Love Himself.
           
So, how does one embark on this wonderful adventure of prayer? Let’s look at the different foci of prayer. One tried and true way of looking at prayer is called “ACTS.” Each letter represents a different dimension or focus of the prayer that we offer to God.
           
“A” stands for adoration. We could say that the reason God made us was simply to adore Him. Our relationship with Him is not one between equals. He is Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. He is the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end of all. He is Love (1 Jn 4:8). We are His finite creatures and, in fact, nothing in comparison to Him.  Yet, he calls us to share in His love and his life. We are called to adore Him. We find that the more we adore Him, the more we discover who we are and we find greater and greater love, meaning, peace and freedom.
           
“C” stands for contrition. We are all sinners. It was for the forgiveness of our sins and our salvation that Christ Our Savior took on our human flesh while remaining most high God and went to the Cross. In our relationship with God we must express our sorrow or contrition for our sins. Contrition is a necessary part of our repentance and conversion (turning back to God).
           
“T” stands for thanksgiving. All that we are and possess comes from the hands of God. In His love and mercy, God pours out upon us manifold spiritual and natural gifts. All that comes upon us is ordered for our deepening relationship with our loving Father. For all this, we are bound to offer our thanksgiving to God daily.
           
“S” stands for supplication. This means that we turn to God, who is generous and benevolent, and ask Him for the graces and material gifts we ourselves need and for all people. Supplication is often the kind of prayer that people may turn to first. In the needs of life, for us, for our loved ones, or even for those we do not know personally, the human heart may be most easily moved to turn to God in prayer. To do so is to follow the words of Jesus Himself, who said, “Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened unto you” (Mt 7:7).
           
Every day we must turn to God in prayer. It is as necessary to our spiritual life as oxygen is to our physical life. We die spiritually without prayer.
           
Our prayer often begins with vocal prayer, as when we turn to those beautiful prayers from the tradition of the Church - the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the Apostles’ Creed, the Memorare, the Hail Holy Queen, the Acts of Faith, Hope, Love and Contrition. As we progress in prayer, we may enter into meditation—the prayer that draws us to reflect on the mysteries of the life of Our Lord and Our Lady, or some aspect of our Faith.

Contemplative prayer, the most advanced type, is the prayer that does not use words. Rather, it is a prayer of union with God that unites the individual with God in a relationship of love. (Stay tuned for a deeper dive into the meaning and practice of vocal, meditative, and contemplative prayer coming up.)
           
How do we begin our life of prayer? We just pray.  We begin simply by turning to God and conversing with Him as a good friend, our Savior and Our Beloved. We do this faithfully every day at established times. We turn to heaven and gaze upward. We lift up our mind and heart and tell Him of our love. We begin with those hallowed words that we know so well, “Our Father… Hail, Mary… Glory Be… O My God, I love You…”

Most Reverend William J. Waltersheid
Auxiliary Bishop of Pittsburgh