Why pray?
The first thing man must do is to seek God, to go apart into the desert of his soul to rest awhile and permit his soul to become sensitive to divine whisperings. It is only in silence and aloneness with God that we may seek reflection, that we may turn our minds on ourselves and our relationship with our Creator. And this reflection begins the moment we start to pray.
Prayer is as essential to the spiritual life as food and air are to our natural existence. Because of our relationship to God we owe God the duty of prayer. Prayer is an act of justice, not merely an act of piety. Prayer is a debt that we must pay, not merely a graceful gesture that we choose to make. Jesus impresses upon us the necessity of private prayer. He says “We ought to pray, and not to faint” (Luke 18:1). He sets the example for us by passing whole nights in prayer (Luke 6:12) Private prayer is a sacred duty incumbent upon us, to be discharged willingly and industriously, for he who does not pray will receive nothing.
Daily private prayer is necessary for understanding and preparing ourselves for liturgical (or public) prayer. The Holy Spirit says: “Before prayer prepare the soul; be not as a man that tempts the Lord” (Ecc. 18:23). Before beginning public prayer, compose your thoughts, and keep in mind that you are in the presence of God, who sees you and knows all that you do, think and speak.
Daily private prayer is very important for us in that, in it we offer God the service not of external or corporal things, but the highest good that we have—our minds and hearts. Through prayer we face the practical truth that we depend on God. God wants us to pray for the very things he wants to give us. Prayer does not change God’s will. It merely fulfills a condition of it, namely that such and such will be given when it is persistently asked for. Ours is not to understand the will of God for our salvation, but to fulfill it. Ours is to cooperate in it fully that it might be accomplished. In this sense there are no unanswered prayers, for each prayer fulfills in some way the providence of God directing all things to their proper end, directing us back to our Creator. Thy will be done. Things happen against our wills, but nothing happens against God’s will, save sin. What we sometimes think are the actions of a cruel God are in reality the manifestations of divine love pushing us to heaven.
“Nothing is more powerful than one who prays; for the praying man participates in the might of God” (St. John Chrysostom).
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