Is Prayer Really Necessary?

Recently, while my good friend Henry and I were sitting in his backyard sharing a bottle of wine, our conversation turned to the topic of prayer. I told Henry that I have been praying for my son and daughter-in-law who are currently separated and considering a reconciliation. He told me that he was going to play the Devil’s Advocate, then he asked me the following question, “Do you think it makes any difference whether you pray or not? I mean, why should it, after all, God knows their circumstances quite well, and He doesn’t need your prayers to help them.” At first, I was somewhat upset with his response, and I thought of giving him a lecture on “Ye of little faith, what more do you have to say?” Instead, I calmed down and decided to meet the challenge and answer his question.

By the grace of God, I was able to take Henry’s question and major premise and merge them into one question with more clarity, as follows: “Since God loves them, probably more than we do, and since He knows their needs and circumstances without our assistance, how or why could our participation, our prayers, make any difference?”  I needed to seek solitary prayer to adequately answer his inquiries.

For most of the afternoon, my thoughts stayed focused on Henry’s statements without wavering and without resolution. Finally, when I had exhausted the scope of my reasoning, I sincerely offered my concerns to God with the intention that if it pleased Him, He would help me answer my questions. And He did.

At this point, my mind took a different turn, and I began to understand things differently. Firstly, I thought of the “Our Father”,  a prayer for unity and charity. I realized that Just as God will not forgive us our trespasses unless we are able and willing to forgive those who trespass against us, likewise He may not (or will not) help us unless we are willing to help others. Following this line of thought gave me one solid reason for the importance of prayer, to say “yes” to the question: “Am I my brother’s keeper.”  And to say “yes” to using prayer as one way of helping others.

Secondly, prayer is important because it connects us to the communion of saints which creates a network of intercessory prayers:

We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church; and we believe that this communion, the merciful love of God and his saints is always attentive to our prayers (Catechism of the Catholic Church 962).

Prayer sent to God surely is shared with others, especially if we request it. The person or persons being prayed for will benefit from our prayers and they will know they are prayed for much like the holy souls in purgatory know they are being prayed for by the benefits they receive. We are not alone. When we pray; we don’t pray alone. When we pray to help others, help is on the way because we are connected to the Church triumphant through the Mystical Body of Christ in the communion of saints.

Thirdly, upon further reflection, I realized that our prayers are important because just as the Incarnation allows us, the human race, to understand (partially), accept, and get closer to God, so it can be that those who are prayed for can more readily accept the grace of God extended or channeled to them through a messenger like themselves. Our Lord can use us and our prayers as a channel of grace to reach others because God allows us to work with him in helping others. A poem written by St. Teresa of Ávila vividly describes this grace given to us:

 Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours.
 Yours are the eyes though which he looks Compassion on this world.
 Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good.
Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Fourthly, what effect does prayer have on my Faith and the Faith of those prayed for? If I pray for peace and believe that God will act on it, and the recipient of my prayer receives peace, what does that result do for my Faith and for the Faith of the other person or persons? And the converse is equally true; that is, what happens to the Faith of those who do not pray, and does their not praying affect others?

In conclusion of this article, the fifth and final reason for praying is that sometimes we pray because:

we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings. And the one who searches hearts knows what is the intention of the Spirit, because it intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will (Romans 8:26-27).

So, if we don’t pray, or don’t pray as we should, the Holy Spirit within us, if the Holy Spirit is within us, will pray or motivate us to pray as we need to pray. As a friend of mine once told me: “ I believe because I pray, and I pray because I must.

A note to the reader: I hope that you find in this article an affirmation of prayer. Henry’s voice represents the mentality of a culture which is turning away from God. In order to turn the tide, we who pray need to pray more to strengthen our own Faith, and to enkindle the Faith of others.