Prayer Is a Means Necessary to Salvation

  One of the errors of Pelagianism was the assertion that prayer is not necessary for salvation. Pelagius, the impious author of that heresy, said that man will only be damned for neglecting to know the truths necessary to be learned. How astonishing! St. Augustine said: 'Pelagius discussed everything except how to pray,' though, as the saint held and taught, prayer is the only means of acquiring the science of the saints; according to the text of St. James: If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly, and upbraides not (James 1,5). The Scriptures are clear enough in pointing out; how necessary it is to pray, if we would be saved. We ought always to pray, and not to faint (Lk. 18,1). Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation (Mt. 26,41). Ask, and it shall be given you ( Mt. 7,7 ) . The words 'we ought,' 'pray,' 'ask,' according to the general consent of theologians, impose the precept, and denote the necessity of prayer. Wickliffe said that these texts are to be understood, not precisely of prayer, but only of the necessity of good works, for in his system prayer was only well-doing; but this was his error, and was expressly condemned by the Church. Hence Lessius wrote that it is heresy to deny that prayer is necessary for salvation in adults; as it evidently appears from Scripture that prayer is the means, without which we cannot obtain the help necessary for salvation.

The reason of this is evident. Without the assistance of God's grace we can do no good thing: Without me, you can do nothing (Jn 15,5). St. Augustine remarks on this passage, that our Lord did not say, Without me, you can complete nothing,' but 'without me, you can do nothing'; giving us to understand that without grace we cannot even begin to do a good thing. Nay more, St. Paul writes, that of ourselves we cannot even have the wish to do good. Not that we are sufficient to think anything ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God (2 Cor. 3,5). If we cannot even think a good thing, much less can we wish it. The same thing is taught in many other passages of Scripture: God works all in all (1 Cor. 12, 6). I will cause you to walk in my commandments, and to keep my judgments, and do them (Ezek. 36,27). So that, as St. Leo I says, 'Man does no good thing, except that which God, by his grace, enables him to do,' and hence the Council of Trent says: 'If anyone shall assert that without the previous inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and his assistance, man can believe, hope, love or repent, as he ought, in order to obtain the grace of justification, let him be anathema.'

The author of the Opus lmperfectum says that God has given to some animals swiftness, to others claws, to others wings, for the preservation of their life; but he has so formed man, that God himself is his only strength. So that man is completely unable to provide for his own safety, since God has willed that whatever he has, or can have, should come entirely from the assistance of his grace.

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What is the role of the Holy Spirit in our prayer periods?

Once we have opened our hearts in prayer, we no longer yearn to escape from ourselves. Where we previously experienced an aridity emptiness of God’s presence, we now feel the joy of His Presence.

In the Holy Eucharist, only if we are open to God’s presence where we can truly experience His Real Presence. As a priest, each moment I give communion to people, sharing the Body and Blood of Christ, there are inescapable moments of inevitable emotion – an emotion of overflowing joy that I have been given the privilege to share God’s presence.

In the depths of our heart we find the courage to say: “Our Father.” I would never have the courage or audacity, to my own accord, to address our Creator, the God of all, with such familiarity to call Him Father. Therefore, do we derive the courage and the right to approach our Creator and speak to the Father as His sons and daughters?

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No need for more words...

When we pray we do not need to formulate thousands of words. But as we repeat the words of the Lord’s Prayer, God will open our hearts that the warmth of these feelings may steal into the hard and stony places made arid by the bitterness of life.

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Reflection on Prayer

I asked God for strength, that I might achieve; 
I was made weak, that I might learn humbly to obey. 

I asked for health that, I might do great things; 
I was given sickness, that I might do better things. 

I asked for riches, that I might be happy; 
I was given poverty, that I might be wise. 

I asked for power to have the praise of others; 
I was given weakness, to feel the need for God. 

I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life; 
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things. 

I receive nothing I asked for, but everything I hoped for. 
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayer was answered; 
I am, among all people, most richly blessed.

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DON'Ts in Prayer

1. Never pray for something without first asking for increased faith.

Hebrews 11:6: And without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

2. Never pray with any DOUBT.

Mark 11:22-24: And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, `Be taken up and cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

James 1:6-8: But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.  

3. Never pray without first forgiving everyone, from your heart.

Matthew 6:14-15: For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you;  but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses  

4. Don't be a grouch when you pray.

Psalm 37:4: Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 

5. Don't ask for something without first adoring and thanking God first.

In the Lord's prayer, "Hallowed be thy Name" comes before "give us this day".  

6. Keep ALL of the Commandments (especially coveting, which is an act of the mind and will, and does not require any physical action) and do good if you want your prayer heard.

1 John 3:22: and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.

7. Do not pray if you have evil in your heart.

Psalm 66:18:If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

8. Don't pray to the Lord half-heartedly.

Jeremiah 29:11-13: For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart. 

9. Don't be unfaithful or unloving to your spouse.

1 Peter 3:7: Likewise you husbands, live considerately with your wives, bestowing honor on the woman as the weaker sex, since you are joint heirs of the grace of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered.  

10. Don't give up praying if your prayers weren't answered right away.

Luke 18:1-8:And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man;  and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, `Vindicate me against my adversary.'  For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, `Though I neither fear God nor regard man,  yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.'"  And the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?  I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?"  

11. Stay COMPLETELY away from horoscopes, tarot cards,  seances, fortune telling, & ouija boards, even if you are just doing them for "fun".  They are an abomination in God's eyes.

Deuteronomy 18:10-12: There shall not be found among you any one who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, any one who practices divination, a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or a medium, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD; and because of these abominable practices the LORD your God is driving them out before you. 

12.  Don't pray for selfish reasons, but pray specifically for the overall good.

James 4:2-3: You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 

13. Do not be far away from God, and receive Holy Communion often.

John 15:7:If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

John 6:56:He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.  

14.  Do not have any mortal sins on your soul when you receive Holy Communion.

1 Corinthians 11:27-30: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.  Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.  For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself.  That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.

15.  Pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 16:23: In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name.

16.  Remove all spiritual pride from your prayers.

Luke 18:9-14: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `God, I thank thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

17. Don't pray by yourself.

Matthew 18:19-20: Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

James 5:16: Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects. 

18. Don't cut off relations with your parents.

Sirach 3:5: Whoever honors his father will be gladdened by his own children, and when he prays he will be heard.

19.  Don't disobey Church teachings (especially about the sin of artificial birth control). If you don't know what Church teachings are, click here.

Luke 10:16: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."

Matthew 18:17: If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.

20.  Don't trust in yourself, anything, or anybody else - Trust in God alone.

Proverbs 3:5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." 

 Sirach 2:6,8,10,13: Trust in him, and he will help you; make your ways straight, and hope in him.  You who fear the Lord, trust in him, and your reward will not fail; Consider the ancient generations and see: who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame?  Or who ever persevered in the fear of the Lord and was forsaken? Or who ever called upon him and was overlooked?   Woe to the faint heart, for it has no trust!  Therefore it will not be sheltered.

Sirach 11:21: Do not wonder at the works of a sinner, but trust in the Lord and keep at your toil; for it is easy in the sight of the Lord to enrich a poor man quickly and suddenly.

21.  STOP SINNING, worship God alone, and DO HIS WILL (it's not enough to "just believe" in Jesus, we have to actually do His works!)

John 9:31: We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.

22.  Do not live according to the flesh.

Romans 8:7-8: For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot;  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  

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Why pray?

 prayer is a moment of grace after grace, every act of pray or pray-ing is a great grace from God. He seeks us, contains us, communicates with us, lavishes us with the presence of His great love, inner peace and lasting joy. Why resist His invitation?
CCC 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.More on Life of Prayer from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.























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prayer is...

While we often still think of prayer primarily as asking God for something, prayer, properly understood, is a conversation with God or with the saints. Just as we cannot hold a conversation with another person unless he can hear us, the very act of praying is an implicit recognition of the presence of God or the saints here with us. And in praying, we strengthen that recognition of the presence of God, which draws us closer to Him. That is why the Church recommends that we pray frequently and make prayer an important part of our everyday lives.