When You Pray, Seek A Relationship

“Seek a relationship when you pray, not answers. You won’t always find answers, but you will always find Jesus.” Father Mike Schmitz

Growing up Fr. Mike thought prayer should be like soaking in a hot tub. He didn’t understand why it was so hard when he tried it.

It took him a while to learn that, as the Catechism says, prayer is a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. Prayer always presupposes effort. There’s always some kind of engagement when we properly pray to God. It’s not just about soaking in God’s grace. The required effort in prayer is difficult more often than it is not. Prayer is a battle against ourselves and “the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn man away from prayer” (CCC 2725).

Over time, Fr. Mike discovered that prayer needs to be more than a momentary time where we seek solace and closeness with God. We need to constantly acknowledge our relationship with God throughout the day, just as a husband and wife are constantly thinking of each other. Then when we do set aside time to simply be with God, it happens more naturally.

If you want to improve your prayer life, make the intentional and faithful decision to live the same way outside of prayer as you do within prayer.

Related content:

Prayer Is Our Relationship With God Pray Until You Listen To God Pray To God, Even After He Gives You What You Were Praying For God’s Three Answers To Your Prayers Do You Pray Mechanically? 6 Tips For Learning To Pray With More Passion A Good Reason To Pray | Catholic-Link.org Catholic Quotes Start Your Catholic Dating Relationship In The Hands Of God When You Pray With Scripture God Speaks To You How To Pray? 10 Types Of Prayer Christians Need In Their Lives