21st October 2013
PART FOUR
CHRISTIAN PRAYER
SECTION ONE
PRAYER IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
CHAPTER THREE
THE LIFE OF PRAYER
ARTICLE 2
THE BATTLE OF PRAYER
Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
2725
Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part.
It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old
Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he
himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against
ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to
turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live,
because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually
according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his
name. The “spiritual battle” of the Christian’s new life is inseparable
from the battle of prayer.
2726 In the battle of prayer, we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions of prayer.
Some people view prayer as a simple psychological activity, others as
an effort of concentration to reach a mental void. Still others reduce
prayer to ritual words and postures. Many Christians unconsciously
regard prayer as an occupation that is incompatible with all the other
things they have to do: they “don’t have the time.” Those who seek God
by prayer are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer
comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone.
2727 We must also face the fact that certain attitudes deriving from the mentality of
“this present world” can penetrate our lives if we are not vigilant.
For example, some would have it that only that is true which can be
verified by reason and science; yet prayer is a mystery that overflows
both our conscious and unconscious lives. Others overly prize production
and profit; thus prayer, being unproductive, is useless. Still others
exalt sensuality and comfort as the criteria of the true, the good, and
the beautiful; whereas prayer, the “love of beauty” (philokalia),
is caught up in the glory of the living and true God. Finally, some see
prayer as a flight from the world in reaction against activism; but in
fact, Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce
from life.
2728 Finally, our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in prayer: discouragement during periods of dryness; sadness that, because we have “great possessions,”15
we have not given all to the Lord; disappointment over not being heard
according to our own will; wounded pride, stiffened by the indignity
that is ours as sinners; our resistance to the idea that prayer is a
free and unmerited gift; and so forth. The conclusion is always the
same: what good does it do to pray? To overcome these obstacles, we must
battle to gain humility, trust, and perseverance.
2729 The habitual difficulty in prayer is distraction.
It can affect words and their meaning in vocal prayer; it can concern,
more profoundly, him to whom we are praying, in vocal prayer (liturgical
or personal), meditation, and contemplative prayer. To set about
hunting down distractions would be to fall into their trap, when all
that is necessary is to turn back to our heart: for a distraction
reveals to us what we are attached to, and this humble awareness before
the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him and lead us
resolutely to offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the
battle, the choice of which master to serve.16
2730
In positive terms, the battle against the possessive and dominating
self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart. When Jesus insists on vigilance, he always relates it to himself, to his coming on the last day and every day: today.
The bridegroom comes in the middle of the night; the light that must
not be extinguished is that of faith: “‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his
face!'”17
2731 Another difficulty, especially for those who sincerely want to pray, is dryness.
Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated
from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even
spiritual ones. This is the moment of sheer faith clinging faithfully to
Jesus in his agony and in his tomb. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into
the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if dies, it bears much
fruit.”18 If dryness is due to the lack of roots, because the word has fallen on rocky soil, the battle requires conversion.19
2732 The most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of faith.
It expresses itself less by declared incredulity than by our actual
preferences. When we begin to pray, a thousand labors or cares thought
to be urgent vie for priority; once again, it is the moment of truth for
the heart: what is its real love? Sometimes we turn to the Lord as a
last resort, but do we really believe he is? Sometimes we enlist the
Lord as an ally, but our heart remains presumptuous. In each case, our
lack of faith reveals that we do not yet share in the disposition of a
humble heart: “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”20
2733 Another temptation, to which presumption opens the gate, is acedia.
The spiritual writers understand by this a form of depression due to
lax ascetical practice, decreasing vigilance, carelessness of heart.
“The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”21 The
greater the height, the harder the fall. Painful as discouragement is,
it is the reverse of presumption. The humble are not surprised by their
distress; it leads them to trust more, to hold fast in constancy.
2734 Filial trust is tested – it proves itself – in tribulation.22 The principal difficulty concerns the prayer of petition,
for oneself or for others in intercession. Some even stop praying
because they think their petition is not heard. Here two questions
should be asked: Why do we think our petition has not been heard? How is
our prayer heard, how is it “efficacious”?
Why do we complain of not being heard?
2735 In the
first place, we ought to be astonished by this fact: when we praise God
or give him thanks for his benefits in general, we are not particularly
concerned whether or not our prayer is acceptable to him. On the other
hand, we demand to see the results of our petitions. What is the image
of God that motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used? or the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?
2736 Are we convinced that “we do not know how to pray as we ought”?23 Are we asking God for “what is good for us”? Our Father knows what we need before we ask him,24
but he awaits our petition because the dignity of his children lies in
their freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be
able truly to know what he wants.25
2737 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”26 If we ask with a divided heart, we are “adulterers”;27
God cannot answer us, for he desires our well-being, our life. “Or do
you suppose that it is in vain that the scripture says, ‘He yearns
jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us?'”28
That our God is “jealous” for us is the sign of how true his love is.
If we enter into the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard.
- Do not be troubled if you do not
immediately receive from God what you ask him; for he desires to do
something even greater for you, while you cling to him in prayer.29 God wills that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give.30
How is our prayer efficacious?
2738 The
revelation of prayer in the economy of salvation teaches us that faith
rests on God’s action in history. Our filial trust is enkindled by his
supreme act: the Passion and Resurrection of his Son. Christian prayer
is cooperation with his providence, his plan of love for men.
2739
For St. Paul, this trust is bold, founded on the prayer of the Spirit
in us and on the faithful love of the Father who has given us his only
Son.31 Transformation of the praying heart is the first response to our petition.
2740
The prayer of Jesus makes Christian prayer an efficacious petition. He
is its model, he prays in us and with us. Since the heart of the Son
seeks only what pleases the Father, how could the prayer of the children
of adoption be centered on the gifts rather than the Giver?
2741
Jesus also prays for us – in our place and on our behalf. All our
petitions were gathered up, once for all, in his cry on the Cross and,
in his Resurrection, heard by the Father. This is why he never ceases to
intercede for us with the Father.32 If our prayer is
resolutely united with that of Jesus, in trust and boldness as children,
we obtain all that we ask in his name, even more than any particular
thing: the Holy Spirit himself, who contains all gifts.
2742 “Pray constantly . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.”33
St. Paul adds, “Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and
supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance making
supplication for all the saints.”34 For “we have not been
commanded to work, to keep watch and to fast constantly, but it has been
laid down that we are to pray without ceasing.”35 This
tireless fervor can come only from love. Against our dullness and
laziness, the battle of prayer is that of humble, trusting, and
persevering love. This love opens our hearts to three enlightening and
life-giving facts of faith about prayer.
2743 It is always possible to pray: The time of the Christian is that of the risen Christ who is with us always, no matter what tempests may arise.36 Our time is in the hands of God:
- It is possible to offer fervent prayer
even while walking in public or strolling alone, or seated in your shop,
. . . while buying or selling, . . . or even while cooking.37
2744 Prayer is a vital necessity. Proof from the contrary is no less convincing: if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us, we fall back into the slavery of sin.38 How can the Holy Spirit be our life if our heart is far from him?
- Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is
impossible it makes possible, what is difficult, easy. . . . For it is
impossible, utterly impossible, for the man who prays eagerly and
invokes God ceaselessly ever to sin.39 Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned.40
2745 Prayer and Christian life are inseparable,
for they concern the same love and the same renunciation, proceeding
from love; the same filial and loving conformity with the Father’s plan
of love; the same transforming union in the Holy Spirit who conforms us
more and more to Christ Jesus; the same love for all men, the love with
which Jesus has loved us. “Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he
[will] give it to you. This I command you, to love one another.”41
- He “prays without ceasing” who unites
prayer to works and good works to prayer. Only in this way can we
consider as realizable the principle of praying without ceasing.42
Related articles
- Practicing the Presence of God (theupsidedownworld.com)
- A Prayer for These Times (nancyschoellkopf.wordpress.com)
- The P.o.P. (comstockmissions.wordpress.com)
- Homily no. 42 – ‘Prayers of Jesus – Prayer of the Church’ (CCC 2598 – 2649) (yofhomilies.wordpress.com)
- Homily no. 43 – ‘The Tradition of Prayer’ (CCC 2650 – 2682) (yofhomilies.wordpress.com)
- Prayer Beads: The Anglican Rosary and Other Christian Prayer Beads (tvaraj.com)
- The Prayer That We Breathe (insightscoop.typepad.com)
- What is imprecatory prayer? (altruistico.wordpress.com)
- Some Supreme Court justices attend mass before Christian prayer case (aconservativeedge.wordpress.com)
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