Some insights on prayer to think about today:
How does prayer help us?
“And the more we pray, the happier we become. The more we pray, the less anxious we become, and we are filled with a greater peace of mind and heart. The more we pray, the more we understand ourselves, for we come to know God more intimately, by experience – and we really only know ourselves to the degree that we know God personally. The more we pray, we begin to see the hand of God in our day to day life, that is, we see Him acting in our life. We begin to see that He loves us, personally. That makes life so much more meaningful.” -Deacon Doug McManaman, “The Importance of Prayer”
How does prayer help the world?
As Catholics, we believe that prayer is astoundingly powerful. The prayers of the saints have had an impact on history unmatched by political and social world leaders over the centuries. All of humanity has benefited from the prayers of the saints. Look at our Blessed Mother Mary. Did not her prayer and submission to God impact the world in the most profound way? Does not her continued intercession on our behalf influence the hearts of all people around the world, as she encourages us always to say our own “yes” to our Heavenly Father?
“…see prayer for what it is: a matter of life or death, your lifeline to God, to life itself. Is this exaggerated? Are there more important things? Love, for instance? We need love absolutely; but the love we need is agape, the love that only God has and is; so unless we go to God for it, we won’t get it. And going to God for it means prayer. So unless we pray, we will not love.” -Peter Kreeft, “Lesson One in Prayer“