3.1 Why should I pray and how can I do it?
Prayer is talking with God (not just to him). When you pray, you take time to get to know God and to build a relationship with him. This is important for every Christian. Jesus told his disciples to pray often (Lk. 22:46) Lk. 22:46: He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”. Yet prayer is not always easy: how do you start and what can you say?
The most important thing to realise is that God is always with you, even right now while you are surfing the Internet... Nothing prevents you from closing your eyes at this very moment and telling God what is in your heart. Ask him for help, tell him what you find difficult, and thank him for what you have received. That’s praying!
What is prayer?
Prayer is turning the heart toward God. When a person prays, he enters into a living relationship with God.
Prayer is the great gate leading into faith. Someone who prays no longer lives on his own, for himself, and by his own strength. He knows there is a God to whom he can talk. People who pray entrust themselves more and more to God. Even now they seek union with the one whom they will encounter one day face to face. Therefore, the effort to pray daily is part of Christian life. Of course, one cannot learn to pray in the same way one learns a technique. As strange as it sounds, prayer is a gift one obtains through prayer. [Youcat 469]
Amid our ordinary human occupations we cannot lose contact with Christ. We need special moments set apart exclusively for prayer. Prayer is indispensable, both in personal life and in the apostolate. There can be no authentic Christian witness unless we have first been strengthened by prayer. Prayer is the source of inspiration, energy and courage in the face of difficulties and obstacles: it is the source of perseverance and of the ability to take initiatives with renewed strength. [Pope John Paul II, Homily in Gorzov, 2 June 1997]
