Prayer as a Gift – An Avenue of Encounter

Prayer as a Gift

Struggling with prayer is a challenge many of us face. When should I pray? What forms of prayer should I use? How long should my prayer time be? These questions can torment us to the point of discouragement. And yet, we crave for something more – a desire to participate in a prayer time that is life-giving!

What is Prayer

What is prayer and how should we go about it? The Catechism of the Catholic Church tell us there are three aspects to prayer. Below I share the three aspects and a brief description of each that can be found in the Catechism.

  1. Prayer as God’s gift
    Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. CCC2559
  2. Prayer as covenant
    Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ. It is the action of God and of man, springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves, wholly directed to the Father, in union with the human will of the Son of God made man. CCC2564
  3. Prayer as communion
    The life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy (Holy Trinity) God and in communion with him. CCC2565

I take great comfort in the first article above where “Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer.” If prayer was easy for us to do then maybe we weren’t really praying – that is to “receive freely the gift of prayer”.

We Are Blessed

How blessed are we to have a God who knows our human frailties. The catechism doesn’t say if you’re having struggles with prayer to try harder. It states that only when we humbly acknowledge that we do not know how we ought to pray that we are truly ready for prayer.

“Heavenly God, our Father, help us to humbly acknowledge the difficulty we have during our prayer time. Help us to remember that you do not seek perfect prayer from us but for us to simple ask for the grace to receive the gift of prayer as You desire to have with us. Amen.”

God longs to enter into relationship with you through prayer. Bring yourself to God. He has given us an avenue to experience prayer as His gift, His covenant, and His way to enter more fully into a communion with Him that gives us life.

Offering my prayers for you dear sisters, that you will open your heart to encounter Him, He who loves you beyond understanding.

About Monique Van Berkel

Monique Van Berkel

She has a passion to spread a message of authentic love and life in relationships. She is an Accredited Theology of the Body Speaker through the TOB Institute. Through sharing of her own life experience and knowledge gained through her studies Monique leads people into a deeper appreciation of their humanity and sexuality.

Monique is the Founder and President of Catholic Woman CEO, a lay apostolate committed to helping women reclaim the truth of their feminine nature as God created them to be. She is available as a speaker for your event or organization. Find out more about her speaking topics here.

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