We continue with the catechism on prayer. Someone has said to me: “You talk too much about prayer. There’s no need”.
If required. Because if we don’t pray, we won’t have the strength to go forward in life. Prayer is like the oxygen of life. Prayer is drawing upon us the presence of the Holy Spirit that always leads us forward. This is why I talk so much about prayer.
PRAYER IS DRAWING UPON US THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT THAT ALWAYS LEADS US FORWARD.
Jesus has given an example of continuous prayer, practiced with perseverance. The constant dialogue with the Father, in silence, and in recollection, is the foundation of his entire mission.
The Gospels also tell us of his exhortations to the disciples, so that they pray insistently, without getting tired. The Catechism recalls the three parables contained in the Gospel of Luke that underline this characteristic of the prayer (cf. CCE, 2613) of Jesus.
Above all, prayer must be tenacious: like the character in the parable who, having to welcome a guest who arrives unexpectedly, in the middle of the night goes to call a friend and asks for bread.
The friend answers: “No!” because he is already in bed, but he insists and insists until he forces him to get up and give him the bread (cf. Lk 11,5-8 ). A tenacious request.
But God is more patient than we are, and whoever knocks with faith and perseverance at the door of his heart is not disappointed. God always answers. Always. Our Father knows well what we need; insistence does not serve to inform or convince you but to feed desire and expectation in us.
THE INSISTENCE DOES NOT SERVE TO INFORM OR CONVINCE YOU BUT TO FEED IN US THE DESIRE AND THE EXPECTATION
The second parable is that of the widow who goes to the judge to help her obtain justice. This judge is corrupt, he is a man without scruples, but in the end, exasperated by the insistence of her widow, he decides to please her (cf. Lk 18,1-8). And he thinks: “It is better that she solve the problem for her and I get her off of her, and so she does not continually come to complain in front of me.”
This parable makes us understand that faith is not the impulse of a moment, but a courageous disposition to invoke God, also to “discuss” with Him, without resigning ourselves to evil and injustice.
FAITH IS NOT THE IMPULSE OF A MOMENT, BUT A COURAGEOUS WILLINGNESS TO CALL ON GOD
The third parable presents a Pharisee and a publican who go to the Temple to pray. The first addresses God boasting of his merits; the other feels unworthy even just for entering the sanctuary.
But God does not listen to the prayer of the first, that is, of the proud, while he listens to that of the humble (cf. Lk 18,9-14). There is no true prayer without a spirit of humility. It is precisely humility that leads us to ask in prayer.
The teaching of the Gospel is clear: we must always pray, even when everything seems in vain when God seems deaf and dumb and it seems to us that we are wasting time. Even if the sky darkens, the Christian does not stop praying. His prayer goes hand in hand with faith.
And faith, on many days of our life, can seem like an illusion, a sterile weariness. There are dark moments in our lives and in those moments faith seems like an illusion. But practicing prayer also means accepting this weariness. “Father, I go to pray and I don’t feel anything… I feel like this, with a dry heart, with an arid heart.”
IT IS PRECISELY HUMILITY THAT LEADS US TO ASK IN PRAYER
But we have to go forward, with this tiredness from the bad moments, from the moments when we don’t feel anything. Many saints and saints have experienced the night of faith and the silence of God —when we call and God does not answer— and these saints have been persevering
In these nights of faith, those who pray are never alone. Jesus is in fact not only a witness and a teacher of prayer, but it is also more. He welcomes us in his prayer so that we can pray in him and through him. And this is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is for this reason that the Gospel invites us to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus.
Saint John writes these words of the Lord: “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (14,13). And the Catechism explains that “the certainty of being heard in our requests is based on the prayer of Jesus” (n. 2614 ). This donates the wings that man’s prayer has always wanted to possess.
How can we not remember here the words of Psalm 91, loaded with confidence, which is born from a heart that expects everything from God: «He will cover you with his plumage, you will find refuge under his wings. Shield and Buckler are his loyalty.
You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that advances in the darkness, nor the scourge that devastates at midday» (vv. 4-7). It is in Christ that this wonderful prayer is fulfilled, it is in Him that he finds the full truth of him.
HE WELCOMES US IN HIS PRAYER SO THAT WE CAN PRAY IN HIM AND THROUGH HIM
Without Jesus, our prayers would run the risk of being reduced to human efforts, destined most of the time to fail. But He has taken upon himself every cry, every lament, every joy, every supplication… every human prayer.
And let us not forget the Holy Spirit that he prays in us; he is the One who leads us to pray, leads us to Jesus. It is the gift that the Father and the Son have given us to proceed to meet God. And the Holy Spirit, when we pray, is the Holy Spirit who prays in our hearts.
Christ is everything to us, also in our prayer life. Saint Augustine said it with an illuminating expression, which we also find in the Catechism: Jesus “prays for us as our priest; he prays in us as our head; Our prayer is addressed to Him as to our God.
Let us, therefore, recognize our voices in Him; and His voice, in us» (n. 2616 ). This is why the Christian who prays fears nothing, and entrusts himself to the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us as a gift and who prays in us, prompting prayer. May it be the same Holy Spirit, Master of Prayer, who teaches us the path of prayer.
Greetings
I cordially greet the Spanish-speaking faithful. I encourage you to pray with confidence and tenacity, and in a particular way in these moments of difficulty that all of humanity is experiencing. Let us approach God without fear, humbly abandoning ourselves in that divine dialogue with whom we know that he loves us. May the Lord bless you.
I found this to be useful information.
I found this to be useful information. I dont always pray every day. But I am going to start.
Thank you