Day 329: The Gift of Prayer

"Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or "out of the depths" of a humble and contrite heart [Ps 130:1]? He who humbles himself will be exalted [Lk 18:9-14]; humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought" [Rom 8:26], are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. "Man is a beggar before God." CCC 2559

In today's reading, the Catechism discusses the gift of prayer. It is a response in wonder and love to that gift of love that God bestows. He wants us to pray, and prayer is something we need in our deepest core.

The Catechism Compendium summarizes what prayer is:

Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God, or the petition of good things from him in accord with his will. It is always the gift of God who comes to encounter man. Christian prayer is the personal and living relationship of the children of God with their Father who is infinitely good, with his Son Jesus Christ, and with the Holy Spirit who dwells in their hearts. (#534)

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

When we profess our Faith, we do not just say the words. When we enter into the sacraments, we are not just going through the motions. In the moral life we do not just "check the boxes." Our faith is alive and important. We are called to worship and to enter into "a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer" (CCC 2558). Jesus told us not to babble like the pagans when we pray; he was not talking about repetition in itself but about the pagan idea that they had to get their deity's attention. When we turn our hearts toward God, we realize he is already looking at us; we already have his attention... Prayer is a gift. Gid seeks us first. Every time you have ever wanted to pray, it was because God was drawing you into prayer. (p. 174)