Video Transcript
Emily: People use the word “prayer” in many ways these days. Some offer “thoughts and prayers,” and others see prayers as mere rituals, like singing the national anthem. Some even think prayer is a quick good-luck charm before taking a penalty kick.
Edmund: When Jesus invites us to follow Him, He is inviting us to something very deep and intimate.
Emily: You’ll remember that the Catechism is a summary of everything God wants us to know, the Deposit of Faith. And it’s divided into four parts: creed, sacraments, morality, and prayer. The Catechism says that the creed, sacraments, and morality should all be lived from a personal relationship with God.
Edmund: This is where one of my favorite lines comes in. In paragraph 2558 the Catechism says: “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.”
Emily: So prayer doesn’t help our relationship with God, prayer IS our relationship with God.
Edmund: Exactly. We’re invited to live and grow in a personal relationship with the living God through prayer. Prayer is our relationship with God. This is why Jesus told the disciples, “I have called you friends”. Jesus wants to have a deep and daily friendship with us.
Emily: And I don’t want my relationships with people that matter to me to be careless. Or something I just turn to when I need a favor. So, what is it we’re invited to do when we pray? How do we have this relationship with God??
Edmund: The saints throughout history give us some profound examples of what this friendship with God looks like. For example, St. Théresé of Lisieux is quoted in the Catechism as saying: “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.”
Emily: In naming the source of prayer, Scripture sometime speaks of the soul or the spirit, but most often of the heart – more than a thousand times! (CCC 2562) So, according to Scripture, it is the heart that prays. That means if our heart is far from God, then we’re not really experiencing the relationship with God – the kind of prayer – that we’re created for.
Edmund: So I want you to imagine sitting with your closest friend or family member. Imagine someone who you know loves you and will listen to anything you want to share. Your friend just wants to know you – to *really* know you. He wants to know your thoughts, feelings, dreams, and even fears. And you can always count on him loving you, wanting what’s best for you, and never rejecting you. And if you just want to sit in silence and enjoy your friend’s presence, you can do that too.
Emily: Prayer can also be sitting in silence in God’s presence. Prayer is this intimate sharing between God and us. It should be more like deep sharing between friends that grows into deeper and deeper trust. Eventually, this prayer grows into complete dependence on God.
Edmund: Prayer ultimately is a gift from God. Whether we know it or not, we are all searching for God. We’re born desiring the life, love, and joy we are created for. And nothing else will fully satisfy us. But God invites us to this relationship first! He is reaching out to us before we even know it is Him we desire to know. God doesn’t want a distant, passive, or impersonal relationship with us.
Emily: God is a Father, not an impersonal ruler from some galaxy far, far, away. He’s not a nameless, faceless life force we tap into to get what we want. There’s a reason God revealed Himself in *relational* terms. You rely on His love, you confide in Him, and He knows you and cares for you. If you can imagine a good relationship with a parent, our relationship with God can be even more loving and deep.
Edmund: Before we even existed, God desired a relationship with us. We didn’t do anything to deserve it. He has given Himself to us, and He desires that we accept this invitation. And through this relationship, we become closer and closer with God.
Emily: Just like a friend or a spouse, the more time we share, and the more we reveal ourselves to the other person, the closer we grow. Prayer is ultimately about growing in intimacy with Jesus so we might experience the relationship Jesus has with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Edmund: These two realities—that God has given Himself to us and that God desires to grow in intimacy with us—are why the Catechism describes prayer as communion. Just like all relationships, prayer is a great mystery that we can never fully exhaust or comprehend. But ultimately, if we ask God for the gift of prayer and reflect on it from the perspective of relationship, prayer changes everything. And this is why we’re invited to live and grow in a personal relationship with the living God through prayer.
