What is prayer? Favorite quotations?

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JamalChristophr

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Do you have a short quotation or passage on prayer that you would like to share? Also, if you would just like to discuss prayer, in general, that is also welcome!
 
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.

Also I’m a big fan of the St. Michael the Archangel prayer. I say it many times a day 😀
 
"If you practice the holy exercise of Spiritual Communion a good many times each day, within a month you will see yourself completely changed. "
– LEONARD OF PORT MAURICE
 
‘Hail Joseph the just and the chaste, Wisdom is with you;
blessed are you among all men and blessed is Jesus,
the fruit of Mary, your faithful spouse.
Holy Joseph, worthy foster-father of Jesus Christ,
pray for us sinners and obtain divine Wisdom for us from God,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.’ - St Louis de Montfort
 
“Prayer joined to sacrifice constitutes the most powerful force in human history.”
Pope St John Paul II
 
Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort. The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle. Against whom? Against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer, away from union with God. We pray as we live, because we live as we pray. If we do not want to act habitually according to the Spirit of Christ, neither can we pray habitually in his name. The “spiritual battle” of the Christian’s new life is inseparable from the battle of prayer.

-CCC 2725
 
He who prays for those who offend him is without rancor; and the unstinting giver is set free from it.’

St. Thalassios the Libyan
 
“Prayer is nothing other than union with God.” St. John Vianney.
 
Yes, it seems that union is something that union can be quite a process. 🙂
 
What is prayer , @JamalChristophr ?

It is too important to be defined in a few words .

I refer everyone to the Catechism Part 4 “Christian Prayer” .

In my copy it covers 66 pages . 😃

But every one of them worth digesting .
 
Well, it need not be “defined, defined” nor could it really ever be as it’s always a bit of a mystery. One can meditate on certain truths in bite sized pieces, as well, in my opinion.

I do think the CCC section on prayer is the best resource that I know of.

I meant “what is prayer” as an opening theme for meditation rather than just one answer. 🙂
 
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The simplest answer I’ve ever heard is that prayer is communication with God.

I think I got that from my pastor.
 
Very true. What you said, Tad, made me think of this quotation by St. Therese that is mainly how I pray most of the time…

I (pray) like children who do not know how to read, I say very simply to God what I wish to say, without composing beautiful sentences, and He always understands me.
 
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