The Power of Prayer

Jesus did many great things in His life on Earth. Not only did He teach us how to live in order to get to Heaven, He also performed many miracles, healed many sick people, and even raised the dead. However, He also often went off alone to pray to His Father.

In order for any relationship to succeed, there needs to be communication. Good deeds, works, and faith aren’t enough to help a relationship thrive, there also needs to be good communication. We communicate to God through many different forms of prayer.

There are so many different ways to pray and we can pick the form we are most comfortable with. I usually like the conversational type of prayer the best where I just talk to God using my own words. Rote prayers and the repetition of them also helps get me in a good frame of mind and allows me to easily meditate on God. I love listening to sacred music and Christian songs. The old saying is that when you sing, you pray twice. One of my favorite songs is, “Oh God Beyond all Praising.” I’ve recently found a good group on YouTube called Catholic Music Initiative. Try searching for Catholic Music Initiative hymns on YouTube. They have several great praise and worship classics to listen to. Their music reminds me of all the churches that I have been to that have incorporated beautiful music in the liturgy. Intercessory prayer is probably the most common type of prayer. Most people seem to mostly talk to God when they need something. There’s nothing wrong with asking God for this or that or for help with something, but we just need to make sure we aren’t only talking to Him when we need something. If a friend only called when in need, the relationship probably wouldn’t be doing too good. In addition to asking for help, we need to remember to say thank you to God when good things happen. Prayers of thanksgiving are important as well. I’ve only mentioned a few of the ways to pray. There are so many more ways to pray as well.

Praying together with many people is great to do, but it’s also very important to talk to God one on one, in private. Just as a couple enjoys going to a party with friends to bond with their friends, they also need some alone time by themselves to talk as well. We go to Mass to pray together as a community, but then also pray to God one on one to help the personal relationship between us and God grow stronger.

Remember, just as communication is important for relationships with other people, it’s also important for our relationship with God. I definitely need to work on this as I don’t pray as often as I should. Let’s all try to pray to God as much as possible in the ways we enjoy. God will answer us. We just need to listen.