Prayer - The Vital and Personal Relationship

Great is the mystery of the faith!" The Church professes this mystery in the Apostles' Creed (Part One) and celebrates it in the sacramental liturgy (Part Two), so that the life of the faithful may be conformed to Christ in the Holy Spirit to the glory of God the Father (Part Three). This mystery, then, requires that the faithful believe in it, that they celebrate it, and that they live from it in a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God. This relationship is prayer. (CCC2558)

Prayer is absolutely necessary to have a relationship with God. Not just a good thing to do but an absolute necessity! Think of any relationship and tell me how long it would last if you never talked to the other party. There are many wonderful prayers that we Catholics have been given to us. Jesus himself gave us the Lord's Prayer - the Our Father. If one would just meditate on this prayer each morning upon arising it would do wonders. We can enter prayer with an open and contrite heart. There are of course many types of prayer. St Ignatius of Loyola said to always begin with Thanksgiving and Gratitude to the Creator. We can give Praise and Adoration to the Our Lord, Who is the Almighty and Lord of Lords, praising Him with the angels in heaven. We can pray to God as a lover, with joy and happiness and delight in being His creation and in His presence. We can acknowledge that we are sinners not worthy of His goodness but grateful that He is so loving and so merciful. A simple prayer is "O Lord Your mercy is boundless!" We can of course give prayers of supplication, petitions - that God would come to the aid of others in need. We can pray for our family members, friends, neighbors, our parish priests, Our Holy Father Pope Benedict. Lastly we can pray for our own needs - not necessarily physical and material wants and needs but spiritual needs and for God's grace that converts us each and every day. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 "Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus."