Pray Always

27 Mar

“For many grow languid in praying; and in the freshness of their conversion they pray fervently, afterwards languidly, afterwards coldly, afterwards negligently; they become, as it were, careless. The enemy is awake; you are sleeping. Our Lord Himself, in the Gospel, gave us the precept, ‘that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.'”  ~ St. Augustine

Prayer, in my opinion, is the most important thing that we can do.  It feeds everything else in our spiritual lives and nurtures as well as strengthens the bonds of our relationship with God.  Prayer comes in many forms:  recited words, silent meditation/reflection, saying the rosary, going to Mass, et cetera.  All those forms of prayer are good and should be utilized on a regular basis.

As Augustine indicates, there are many times that prayer grows cold if not non-existent.  We might pray fervently for a while but time often causes that fervency to lag.  We might attend Mass regularly, perhaps even daily, and then begin to tell ourselves that it is a drag and start attending less.  Any of the forms of prayer that we can employ can be increased or decreased by us.  With that increase or decrease come consequences.

If we pray more fervently, it increases our relationship with God, inspires us to serve others, and feeds our souls.  If we pray less fervently and/or less often, we might find it hard to concentrate upon God and His ways and lose sight of the path that leads to the Kingdom.

Our Lenten journey has lasted four and a half weeks thus far.  We may have begun quite fervently.  We may have decided upon some favorite things to give up or some service tasks to add to our daily lives.  The first few days or weeks may have been relatively easy to accomplish our resolutions but we might find that fervent feeling flagging within.

This isn’t the time to give up.  It is the time to renew ourselves.  Look to prayer.  If you shore up your lives with prayer, you will find it easier to shoulder and live out your resolve.

FAITH ACTION:  Make sure to set and adhere to a prayer regimen.  It’s the most important thing you can do.