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Prayer
Submitted by: Kevin Mayberry
Síocháin agus Dia Dhuit,God to you and peace,
In the Catechism,2774,the Church tells us that:
prayer is a vital necessity.Proof from the contrary
is no less convincing:if we do not allow the Spirit to lead us,we fall
back into the slavery of sin.
Gal.5:16-18,NAB
I say,then:live by the Spirit and you will certaily not gratify the
desire of the flesh.For the flesh has desires agains the Spirit,and
the Spirit against the flesh;these are opposed to each other,so that
you may not do what you want.But if you are guided by the Spirit,you
are not under the law.
Now if we want to be free from the bondage,sin,we must keep up a good
prayer life,so that the Holy Spirit can guide us to all truth which is
to be found in the body of Christ,His one Holy and Apostolic Church.
That is the great thing about our church,we can come in any time and
pray,we have mass which is basically a one big,long prayer.
745,in the Catechism says:
Prayer and Christian life are inseparable,for they concern the same
love and the same renunciation,proceeding from love;the same filial
and loving conformity with the Father's plan of love;the same
transforming union in the Holy Spirit who conforms us more and more to
Christ Jesus.
Jn.15:16-17,NAB
It was not you who chose me,but I who chose you and appointed you to
go and bear fruit that will remain,so that whatever you ask the Father
in my name he may give you.This I command you:love one another.
I was just watching a show on EWTN called,Cherub Wings,and they were
talking about prayer,there was a song talking about asking the Father
for what you need,and prayer is talking to the Father.I thought it was
a great way of explaining prayer,even if this show is for little kids
we can learn more through shows like this,but anyways,
The more we talk to the Father the more He can reveal to us,prayer is
essential to Christian life,and we should imitate Christ,remember
Jesus prayed alot,we should to,but what do we do when we keep getting
distracted during the Rosary,Chaplet of Divine Mercy,or any other
prayer we recite,or create one?
the Catechism,in 2732,says:
The most common yet most hidden temptation is our lack of faith.It
expresses itself less by declared incredulity than by our actual
preferences.When we begin to pray,a thousand labors or cares thought
to be urgent vie for priority;once again,it is the moment of truth for
the heart:what is its real love?
What is our real love?It should be Jesus,but our lack of faith keeps
us from praying with our whole hearts,with out prayer we sin more,the
more we sin the further we get from Jeus the further we get from Jesus
the further we get from Yahweh,God,.This is not what we want,we want
to be closer to God.But to be apart from God we can't do nothing,so
what are we to do,pray,but if we have a problem concentrating on
prayer we can't be with God we are apart from Him.
In 2733,
The Spirit indeed is willing,but the flesh is weak.
The greater the height,the harder the fall.Painful as
discouragement is,it is the reverse of presumption. The
humble are not surprised by their distress;it leads them
to trust more,to hold fast in constancy.
Mt.26:41,NAB
Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test.The Spirit
is willing,but the flesh is weak.
If we humble our selves,and put our distress to the Lord,
we should be able to pray with a clear conscience,without distraction,
then we can have a stable prayer life,talking to God.The only way I
know how to get rid of these distractions when praying is to pray,
pray that we will not be subject to that test no more,pray that we
can pray with a clear conscience.
In brief:Prayer is essential,as humans we sometimes let our minds
wonder from prayer,and we need to pray so we will not be interuppted
during prayer.
May God bless you and Mary keep you,
Kevin Mayberry
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Last Updated: July 19th, 2002
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