658- Is prayer pleasing to God?
“A prayer is always pleasing to God when spoken from the heart, for intent is everything to God. A prayer from the heart is preferable to one you read no matter how beautiful it may be if you read more with the lips than with the thought. Prayer is pleasing to God when it is offered with faith, fervor and sincerity. Do not believe, however, that God is touched by the prayer of vain, proud or selfish people, unless their prayer represents an act of sincere repentance and true humility.”
659- What is the general character of prayer?
“Prayer is an act of worship. Praying to God is thinking of God, drawing nearer to God, putting one’s self in communication with God. Through prayer we may do three things: praise, ask and thank.”
660- Does prayer make people better?
“Yes, because those who pray fervently and confidently strengthen themselves against the temptations of evil, and God sends them good spirits to assist them. Such help is never refused when sincerely asked for.”
– Why is it that certain persons who pray a great deal are nevertheless of a very evil, jealous, envious, cantankerous character, lacking in benevolence and forbearance – even cruel?
“What is essential is not to pray a great deal, but to pray rightly. Such persons think that all the merit lies in the length of the prayer, and they shut their eyes to their own defects. For them, prayer is an occupation, a use of time, but it is not self-examination. It is not the remedy per se that is ineffectual, but the manner in which it is applied.”
661- May one effectively ask God to forgive one’s sins?
“God knows how to discern between good and evil; prayer does not hide sins. Those who ask God to forgive their sins do not receive forgiveness unless they change their conduct. Good deeds are the best prayers, for deeds are worth more than words.”
662- May one pray effectively for others?
“The spirit of the one who prays acts out of a will to do good. Through prayer, it attracts good spirits who cooperate in the good it desires to do.”
Through our thought and will, we possess an inner power of action that extends far beyond the limits of our corporeal sphere. A prayer for others is an act of that will. If it is ardent and sincere, it can call good spirits to the aid of those for whom we ask it so that the good spirits may suggest good thoughts to them and give them the needed strength for body and soul. But even then, the prayer from the heart is everything; that from the lips is nothing.
663- Can the prayers we offer for ourselves modify the nature of our trials and change their course?
“Your trials are in God’s hands and there are those that must be endured to the very end; however, God always takes resignation into account. Prayer attracts good spirits who give you strength to courageously endure your trials; thus, they seem less difficult to you. As we have already stated, prayer is never useless when offered rightly, because it provides strength, which in itself is a good result. Heaven helps those who help themselves – you know this. Besides, God could not change the workings of nature to suit the taste of each and every individual, since what may be a great evil from your narrow point of view and for your ephemeral life is often a great good within the general order of the universe. Furthermore, how many misfortunes are authored by people themselves through their own improvidence or wrongdoing? They are punished for their specific sins. Nevertheless, your just requests are heard more often than you might suppose. You think that God has not heard your prayer because there has been no miracle on your behalf, while you have in fact received divine assistance through means so natural that it seems to have happened by chance or by necessity. Most often, God suggests the thought needed for you to get yourselves out of your predicament.”
664- Is it any use praying for the dead and for suffering spirits, and if so, how can our prayers provide them consolation and shorten their sufferings? Do our prayers have the power to appease the justice of God?
“Prayer has no effect in changing God’s designs, but the soul for whom you pray experiences relief because it witnesses the interest you show in it, and because an unhappy soul is always consoled when it encounters other charitable souls who share in its suffering. Moreover, through prayer you may incite it to repentance and the desire to do what is needed to become happy. It is in this sense that you can shorten its affliction if on its part it contributes with its own goodwill. Aroused by prayer, such a desire to improve attracts to the suffering spirit other spirits, who come to enlighten, console and give it hope. Jesus prayed for the straying sheep. In doing so, he showed you that you are culpable if you do not pray for those who are the most in need.”
665- What is to be thought of the opinion that rejects praying for the dead because it is not prescribed in the Gospels?
“Christ said to all humankind, ‘Love one another.’ This recommendation implies using all possible means to demonstrate love toward others, but without going into any details regarding the way to reach this goal. If it is true that nothing can turn God aside from applying divine justice to every one of a spirit’s actions, it is no less true that the prayer you direct to God on behalf of those who inspire your love is for them a testimony of remembrance that consoles them and contributes toward relieving their sufferings. They can be helped when – and only when – they show the slightest repentance, but it will nevertheless cause them never to forget that a sympathetic soul has been concerned about them. It will instill in them the sweet belief that your intercession has been useful. This necessarily results on their part in a sentiment of love for the one who has shown this proof of friendship and piety. Consequently, the love recommended to humankind by Christ has increased between them, and both have obeyed the law of love and union of all beings, the divine law that must lead to unity – the spirit’s objective and purpose.”56
666- May we pray to spirits?
“You may pray to good spirits since they are the messengers of God and the executors of the divine designs. Their power, however, is in proportion to their degree of evolution and always derives from the Creator of all things, without whose permission nothing is done. For this reason, the prayers that we address to them are only effective if pleasing to God.”
56 This reply was given by the Spirit of M. Monod, the Protestant pastor of Paris, who died in 1856. The preceding reply, no. 664, was given by the Spirit of St. Louis – Author.
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