THE WHAT AND WHY OF PRAYER
Perhaps not often enough do we think of the great
privilege that is ours in being able to speak with God in
prayer. It is rather horrible to try to imagine what life would be like if God had chosen to wrap himself in the mantle of his majesty, leaving man to shift for himself. If there were no intercommunication between us and God, we would be like rudderless and radioless ships adrift in the middle of the ocean; without direction, without guidance, without hope.
Prayer is defined as "the lifting up of our minds and hearts to God." Prayer may be either mental or vocal.
Mental Prayer is speaking to God through thought and meditation, while
Vocal Prayer is an expression of these thoughts in words. Many
prayers are the prescribed prayers of the Church, but these need not to be the only prayers offered to God. Prayers offered in one''s own words are particularly pleasing to God. God wants us to pray to Him. In the Sermon of the Mount He said to His disciples: "ask and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." Matthew 7:7. The Apostles taught the importance of prayer. St. Paul in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians said: "Pray without ceasing." I Thessalonians 5:17. Without prayer one cannot be closed to God.
The need for prayer is rooted in human''s very nature as a creature of God and as the recipient of His bounty. God made us, body and soul. We belong to Him one hundred percent. Every good thing that comes to us has its source in God; we depend upon Him fo the very air we breath. Prayer is an act of justice, not merely an act of piety. Prayer is the debt that we must pay, not merely a graceful gesture that we choose to make.
There is only one kind of prayer that we can offer unconditionally: that is whwn we pray that we get to heaven and for the grace we need in order to get there. When this is a burden of our prayer, we know absolutely that we want also is what God wants. Our prayer in this instance certainly will be answered, provided that it possesses the quality which prayer must have;
PERSEVERANCE. The one who never quits prayinf for grace and salvation is the one who is certain to go to
HEAVEN.