Lent – Part 2

(Plain Text Version)

Lent, Part 2: To Pray Is to Be Alive

(This article was originally published in March 2021)

Pray, and You Will Get to Heaven!

St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote a very simple saying which can be the guide for our entire life:

“Those who pray are certainly saved; those who do not pray are certainly damned.”

One may say that this is too simple to be true, as if one can say an Our Father in the morning and rob and murder for the rest of the day.  The key is to understand what prayer really is.

What True Prayer Is

Let’s begin by looking at what Our Savior says about prayer:

Prayer is more than just saying the words:

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. (Matthew 6:7)

We must take time without distractions, and pray to God in quiet:

But when you pray, go to into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. (Matthew 6:6)

We need to pray for the wisdom to make the right choices:

Apart from me, you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. (Matthew 26:41)

We need to pray for the things we need:

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.     (Matthew 7:7)

Let’s Follow the Example of Our Savior

Jesus prayed before important events: for forty days before beginning His public ministry, before appointing the twelve Apostles, and before He was captured and crucified.  He also prayed at more ordinary times: staying behind and praying while His disciples rowed across the Sea of Galilee and rising early to pray when staying at the home of Peter.

How and When to Pray                  

Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer, a simple prayer which is the model for all Christian prayer.  It begins by addressing God as our Father.  What could be better than to talk to God, the same way we would talk to a loving Earthly father?  When we pray the Lord’s prayer, we put ourselves in His hands, and ask for the things which we need.  There is a huge variety of good  Christian prayers.  All of them are ways of praying the “Our Father.”

When to pray?  There is no time when we can’t pray!  St. Paul says to pray constantly (1 Thessalonians 5:17).  As we go through the day, our minds are always busy.  This can be an opportunity to talk to God and to listen to Him. 

When we take time out to concentrate on prayer, we can be specific in what we say to God.  During this special time, God speaks to us.  We should be listening in addition to talking!

When we go to sleep, we should ask that our final sleep will be a happy beginning of life in Heaven.  When we wake up, we should offer the day to the Lord.    

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