Why Must we PRAY?

 

As fuel is needed for a flame, our faith is also fuelled by our prayer to God. Prayer is a act of believe and trust, as in John 20:29  "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.", we don't see God and yet we call on Him.

Each time we pray and pray with all our heart, we are getting closer to Father God, Jesus Christ his Son and the Holy Spirit. (Holy Trinity, One GOD). By this we will receive the knowledge and wisdom to know Him more intimately and love Him as we follow His Commandment to us in John 13:34 "Love one another, as I have loved you.". Prayer and the Word of the Lord is our soul food, ignorance is the fruit of an empty soul (lack of faith and knowledge of the scriptures). When we become ignorant, we will definately fail to love one another.

In prayer we can praise, give thanks and glorify our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and Mother Mary.

In prayer we communicate with our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, Mother Mary, all the angels and saints.

Jesus also prayed to the Father, and Our Lady has also ask us to recite the rosary daily. Therefore, why many of us still do pray at all? If we do not have time for the Lord, then how can we expect the same in return. When in times of trouble many of us only pray as the last resort but in actual fact prayer should be the first thing that come to mind.

In Psalm 34:8 "Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him."; Our Lord is good and everything we receive from him is good, therefore with our heartfelt prayers, respestfullness and obedience to Him , we have much to gain and nothing to lose. All prayers are heared by our Lord and most of them are answered. Those prayers not answered are most probably caused by we are not praying whole heartedly or incorrectly, James 4:3 "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,".

 

Our conscience is a gift from God when he create us,  and it acts a messenger within us telling us what is good (divine) or bad (sinful and works of the evil one). Using the Holy Spirit, God teaches us the right way to things; Romans 8:26 "the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans". God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whom though the passion has redeem us from our sins and by the resurrection establish the true path to Him; Romans 8:34 "Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.".
 

It has always been God's plan, for us to know Him, love Him and serve Him.

Hebrews 11:6
⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

"Seven days without prayer, makes one weak."

Philippians 4:6-7
⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


Ephesians 6:18
¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.



1 Timothy 2:1-2
2 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— ² for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.


Matthew 6:5-15 (one of the teaching by Jesus during the Sermon on the Mount)
Prayer
⁵ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. ⁶ But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷ And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

 

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Matthew 26:36
³⁶ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”





Luke 5:16
¹⁶ But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.


Luke 21:34-36
³⁴ “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come on all those who live on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”


Genesis 20:17
¹⁷ Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again,

Genesis 25:21
²¹ Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.


2 Thessalonians 1

1 Paul, Silas and Timothy,

To the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

² Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. ⁴ Therefore, among God’s churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring.

⁵ All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. ⁶ God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you ⁷ and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. ⁸ He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might ¹⁰ on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you.

¹¹ With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. ¹² We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus is always filled with an over-abundance of tenderness, mercy, love, and affection for us. Whether at home, in Eucharistic adoration, or wherever you are,  when we pray to Jesus, His loving gaze has already been focused on us. This is why we must always keep Jesus love in our minds and hearts, thus repent for our sins. Therefore, when in prayer trust that Jesus loves us and that he is always pleased with our sincere actions in coming to him in prayer.