pray more, much more
“One day [Jesus] was praying in a certain place.” —Luke 11:1
“One of [Jesus’] disciples asked Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples’ ” (Lk 11:1). Jesus answered with a ‘Yes’ and a ‘No’: “Yes, I’ll teach you to pray.” “No, I won’t teach you as John taught his disciples.” Jesus teaches us not to imitate St. John’s disciples, pagans (Mt 6:8), or anyone else when we pray. We learn most things by imitation, but we cannot learn to pray this way.
Prayer is not primarily an activity but a relationship. Every relationship is unique. We learn to relate by relating, not by imitating. Likewise, we learn to pray by praying. Although we can learn some things about prayer from others, prayer is learned primarily by on-the-job training. Therefore, those who pray the most often pray the best. There’s no substitute for spending a lot of time with someone in building a deep, personal relationship. The Lord teaches us to pray by calling us to pray often, even for hours (e.g. Mk 1:35; Lk 6:12). Give the Lord both quality and quantity time, and He will teach you to pray.
Prayer: Father, give me the grace to stifle the flesh and stir up the spirit of prayer (Gal 5:17).
Promise: “Steadfast is His kindness toward us, and the fidelity of the Lord endures forever.” —Ps 117:2
Praise: In her diary, St. Faustina wrote, “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God.”
Reference: (For help in praying more often, read the Bible daily. For encouragement, listen to, download or order any or all of these CDs or DVDs: Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ on CD 82-1 or DVD 82; How to Pray the Bible on CD 82-3 or DVD 82; How to Read the Bible on CD 46-3 or DVD 46; Principles of Bible Interpretation on CD 79-1 or DVD 79 on our website.)
Rescript: In accord with the Code of Canon Law, I hereby grant the Nihil Obstat for the publication One Bread, One Body covering the time period from October 1, 2022, through November 30, 2022. Reverend Steve J. Angi, Chancellor, Vicar General, Archdiocese of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio January 3, 2022
The Nihil Obstat ("Permission to Publish") is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free of doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.