Prayer and the Relationship of Man to God

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When one family member wrongs another, sure there is forgiveness in the most virtuous of families, either the rift that was created widens or it is healed. The is the case with the human family, man willfully chose to do the one thing he was told to not do. This abuse of freedom leaves man with the desire to hide from God and thus to not address the act committed. This drives a man to dissolution and anxiety. Yet, it remains that through prayer, and especially through the sacrament of confession, this rift is healed.

God does not need man.[1] After having created man out of sheer love, God permitted man’s freedom, then out of misplaced curiosity man (tempted by the fallen angel) chose against God(cf. Genesis 3:1-7 RSVCE).[2] Even though man may continue to not choose God, God no less seeks to remind man of man’s need for Him.[3] Men, who do not know of God’s love or forget/lose faith in His goodness, misunderstand and undernourish this desire by constantly seeking to satisfy it insufficiently on their own. If man, out of free choice and knowledge, refuses to listen to God’s call to repentance, he commits the unforgivable sin by choosing to remain in the bondage of sin.[4] Conversely, prior/during/after man’s sin, God desires man’s ultimate good more than man does, and even more than man can comprehend.[5] When man seeks to pray, he desires to satisfy both God’s thirst and his own.[6]

In conclusion, man has been given everything He needs to reclaim his dignity in Christ and to reassume his identity of sons/daughters of God (cf. Luke 15 & John 20:23). Man need the living water, lest he becomes thirsty and moves toward the earthly "satisfaction" (the emptiest sense of the term) of that desire. Prayer is a constant need for man; thus He ought to do it on every occasion (cf. Ephesians 6). It is always possible to pray. Few needs can be more fundamental for man and yet man finds Himself vastly malnourished in sin. We cannot pray always if we do not take time out of our lives and do what truly matters.[7] Pray like your relationship with God depends on it because it does.

FN:

  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000), 1.
  2. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 385.
  3. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27.
  4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1864,1739.
  5. Catechism of the Catholic Church, cf. 2563.
  6. Catechism of the Catholic Church, cf 2560.
  7. Catechism of the Catholic Church, cf 2725, 2697-2699.
O God I thirst for Thee,
Yet uncomparable is Thy thirst for me.
"If only Israel you would heed, at once I would put thy enemies asunder"
O Lord, we make our lives a blunder.
Through, Thy Holy Spirit, I meet Thee
I meet the thirst you have for me.
In prayer, I always find Thee,
even if sin blinds me.
Comfort my anxiety
Strengthen my humility
Weak though be
I know you reside in me!
I am a Theology major attending Holy Apostles College and Seminary. I am a Knight of Columbus and a Newman Ambassador for Pius XII Newman Center.

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