Prayer

"Pray constantly" (1 Thess 5:17). It is always possible to pray. It is even a vital necessity. Prayer and Christian life are inseparable. Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph #2757.


#2659 We learn to pray at certain moments by hearing the Word of the Lord and sharing in his Paschal mystery, but his Spirit is offered us at all times, in the events of each day, to make prayer spring up from us. Jesus' teaching about praying to our Father is in the same vein as his teaching about providence: time is in the Father's hands; it is in the present that we encounter him, not yesterday nor tomorrow, but today: "O that today you would hearken to his voice! Harden not your hearts."


Sometimes we feel that God does not hear our prayers. Or that God hears them, but does not answer. When He doesn't answer, we think He is unwilling to help us. What we are really experiencing is our own closedness to Him. The problem is that we "need" God one day and then forget about Him the next day. God gives himself to us constantly and we should acknowledge Him constantly.

#2650 Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor is it enough to know what the Scriptures reveal about prayer: one must also learn how to pray. Through a living transmission (Sacred Tradition) within "the believing and praying Church," the Holy Spirit teaches the children of God how to pray.

#2834 "Pray and work." "Pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you." Even when we have done our work, the food we receive is still a gift from our Father; it is good to ask him for it and to thank him, as Christian families do when saying grace at meals.

Luke 18:7-8
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them?
I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

It is possible God isn't answering our prayers because we are praying for the wrong things! We should always be open to letting God's will be done. See Ephesians 1:11 "In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the one who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, ..."
God is listening, he just wants us to rest silently until he reveals his answer. Sometimes, our maturity is not at a level where we can ask for the appropriate assistance. Therefore, He may be protecting us from our wants because sometimes our wants can hurt us.

#2736 Are we convinced that "we do not know how to pray as we ought"? Are we asking God for "what is good for us"? Our Father knows what we need before we ask him, 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.

When we pray, we must desire Him freely and completely, the same way he desires us - without reservation or condition.

God wants us to open the door of our hearts so He might enter. Only then can His love soften our hardened hearts, pouring in life-giving grace.

I hope this has enlightened someone.