Prayer - 3

III. — THE CONDITIONS OF PRAYER

Many pray but do not obtain the object of their prayers, because they do not pray as they ought. You ask, says St. James, and receive not, because you ask amiss (iv. 3). To pray well, it is necessary, in the first place, to pray with humility. God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble (Ibid. iv. 6). God rejects the petitions of the proud but does not allow the humble to depart without hearing all their prayers. The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the clouds... and he will not depart till the Most High behold (Ecclus. xxxv. 21). This holds, even in the case of sinners. A contrite and humble heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Ps. 1. 19). Secondly, it is necessary to pray with confidence. No one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded (Ecclus. ii. 11). Jesus Christ has taught us to call God, in our petitions for His graces, by no other name than that of "Father," in order to make us pray with the same confidence with which a child has recourse to a parent. He, then, who prays with confidence, obtains every grace. All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you (Mark xi. 24). And who, says St. Augustine, can fear that the promises of God, Who is Truth Itself, will be violated? God, says the Scripture, is not like men, who promise, but do not perform, either because they intend to deceive, or because they change their minds. God is not as man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man, that he should be changed. Hath he said them, and will he not do? (Num. xxiii. 19). And why, adds the same St. Augustine, should the Lord so earnestly exhort us to ask His graces, if He did not wish to bestow them upon us? By His promises He bound Himself to grant us the graces we ask of Him.

But some will say: I am a sinner, and therefore I do not deserve to be heard. In answer, St. Thomas says that the efficacy of prayer to obtain graces, depends, not on our merits, but on the Divine Mercy. Every one, says Jesus Christ, that asketh receiveth (Luke xi. 10) — that is, every one, whether he be a just man or a sinner. But the Redeemer himself takes away all fear, saying: Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father anything in my name, he will give it to you (Jo. xvi. 23). As if He said: Sinners, if you are without merit, I have merit before My Father. Ask, then, in My Name, and I promise that you shall receive whatsoever you ask. But it is necessary to know that this promise does not extend to temporal favours, such as health, and the like; for God often justly refuses these favours, because He sees that they would be injurious to our salvation. "The physician," says St. Augustine, "knows better than the patient, what is useful to him." The holy Doctor adds, that God refuses to some in His mercy, what He gives to others in His wrath. Hence we should ask temporal blessings only on condition that they shall be profitable to the soul. But spiritual graces, such as pardon of sins, perseverance, Divine love, and the like, should be asked absolutely, and with a firm confidence of obtaining them. If, says Jesus Christ, you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from Heaven give the good spirit to them that ask him? (Luke xi. 13).

II. Above all, perseverance in prayer is necessary. Cornelius a Lapide says, that the Lord "wishes us to persevere in prayer even to importunity." This may be inferred from the following passages of Scripture: We ought always to pray (Luke xviii. 1). Watch ye, therefore, praying at all times (Luke xxi. 36). Pray without ceasing (1 Thess. v. 17). It may also be inferred from our Lord's repeated exhortations to prayer. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you (Luke xi. 9). It might be sufficient to have said ask; but no; the Lord wishes us to understand that we ought to imitate beggars, who do not cease to ask, to entreat, and to knock at the gate until they receive an alms. But final perseverance in particular, is a grace which is not obtained without continual prayer. We cannot merit this grace of perseverance; but, according to St. Augustine, it may be merited in a certain manner. "This gift," says the holy doctor, "can be suppliantly merited; that is, it may be obtained by supplication." Let us, then, if we wish to be saved, pray always, and never cease to pray. And let all confessors and preachers, if they desire the salvation of souls, never cease to exhort their penitents or hearers to prayer. And, in conformity with the advice of St. Bernard, let us always have recourse to the intercession of Mary, "for what she asks she obtains, and her prayer cannot be fruitless."

My God, I hope that Thou hast already pardoned me; but my enemies will not cease to fight against me till death. Unless Thou dost assist me, I shall lose Thee again. Ah, through the merits of Jesus Christ, I ask for holy perseverance. Do not permit me to be separated from Thee. And I ask the same grace for all who are at present in the state of grace. I hope with certainty in Thy promise, and that Thou wilt give me perseverance if I shall continue to ask it from Thee. But I fear that in my temptations I shall neglect to have recourse to Thee, and that thus I shall relapse into sin. I therefore ask of Thee the grace never more to neglect prayer. Grant that in the occasions in which I shall be in danger of relapsing, I may recommend myself to Thee, and may invoke the most holy Names of Jesus and Mary. My God, this I purpose and hope to do with the assistance of Thy grace. Hear me for the sake of Jesus Christ. O Mary, my Mother, obtain for me the grace, that in all dangers of losing God, I may have recourse to thee and thy Son.