OC Catholic writer Karen Meeks tackles the subject of prayer in our feature story in this issue. I use the word “tackle” because prayer is a complex concept. For me, sometimes it feels like a constant wish list, and other times it feels more like an urgent plea. I wonder if I’m doing it right. Or wrong.
As Diocese of Orange Chancellor Pia de Solenni tells Meeks, “… we pray because we need to escape ourselves and come into a relationship with God, who is the only one who can satisfy us.”
The chancellor also tells Meeks that when we are reaching out to God, we are in touch with the infinite. And there is hope in that.
She says that prayer can bring us peace; that even in the most difficult of circumstances, escaping ourselves and reaching out to God brings a certain serenity.
I find that I pray throughout the day, and my offering is a mix of gratitude for my many blessings and continual requests for the intercession of various saints.
Like everyone, I hope my prayers are heard.
Here, from the King James Bible, is evidence that they are:
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.
—1John 5:14
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
—Jerimiah 29:12
Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms.
—James 5:13
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
—Mark 11:24
Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer…
—Romans 12:12
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
—Luke 18:1
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
—Philippians 4:6