If I pray more will God listen more?

Some prayers appear to be bargaining with God: "Give me this and I'll praise you." Why not just praise God?

Should I beg God or does God know I need certain things?

Did Jesus pray"? To this last one, Jesus did pray: He prayed before choosing his apostles (Lk 6:13-14); he prayed in raising the dead to life (Jn 11:41ff); he prayed during the Last Supper (Jn 17:1-26); he prayed during the Passion in the garden (Mk 14:35); and he prayed as he hung on the cross (Lk 23:34). In fact, God Himself taught us the Lord's Prayer in response to the request of His disciples to teach them how. This is so above all we pray that He may be glorified and that for this purpose we may be worthy of His kingdom, living in conformity with His will.

Friar Jim Van Vurst, O.F.M., also known as Friar Jack of the American Catholic, wrote in one of the Friar Jack's eSpiration, regarding prayers:

"Why pray? Doesn’t God know everything?
Yes, indeed. God knows all. But we are called to prayer to inform God of our needs. God doesn’t need our prayers. We pray because we need to remind ourselves of our relationship with God and to remind ourselves of our needs and the needs of others.

Would we display more faith if we didn’t pray and just let God help us? Well, that’s what we do most of the time. We trust the Lord to care for us. In fact, there are simply too many things that we are not even aware of. We could never completely know our needs much less the needs of all those people important to us. Practically speaking, part of our faith is putting ourselves in the providential hands of God.

As far as God knowing the future (and he surely does), some might ask, “What does prayer matter since the future is going to happen anyway?" It does matter. What happens down the road is determined by what we do in the present. God knows the future certainly, but our lives today, with our unique circumstances , are very much involved in bringing about the future. And so we pray for what we believe to be best for us and our loved ones just as Jesus said, “Give us this day our daily bread.”"

"Is prayer a real form of communication?
It is essential that we realize that prayer has nothing to do with magic. Magic is based on illusion and the unreal. Prayer, on the other hand, is a real aspect of our loving, dependent and trusting relationship with God. It is as real as our faith is real, even though both involve mystery. While prayer can become “magical” to us (because there is always the little child within us that believes in magic), it is actually an act of faith and trust.

Jesus said we need not multiply prayers. Some may think that saying more prayers increases our chances of influencing God. This is not true. Two rosaries are not better than one. In addition, if you can’t finish a rosary because you fall asleep at night, your prayer is not lessened. Remember, God is not an accountant. Prayer is in the heart, not on the lips. When we mix prayer with numbers, we may place more emphasis on the number rather than the prayer itself and more emphasis on us than upon the God to whom we pray.
For example, novenas are a popular form of prayer with many people. There is nothing wrong with designating a number of days to pray for a particular need. However, the number of days doesn't help or lessen the power of the prayer. Such superstition is directed toward material things that are given unwarranted power. In prayer, power is to be given to God and God alone.

Prayer is not aimed at manipulating God to do what we want. We sincerely pray for what we think we need and what is best for us and those around us, and it is perfectly fine to ask God for those things. We pray for health, good grades and safe travel. But we know that to neglect health, to skip studying or to drive at dangerous speeds and then pray for good health, high grades and safety on the highway would make a mockery of prayer. God expects us to use the intelligence and common sense that he gave us.

How do we pray?
People often get the idea that prayer is difficult. However, prayer is simply talking with God about our lives and needs and asking him to give us “our daily bread.” Prayer is also speaking in words of praise and thanks. It need not be formal; God isn’t concerned with that. God reads the language of the heart, whether it is the heart of a child heart or the heart of a mystic.
People pray in all different ways. “I love you, Lord” are simple yet very important words. Would a wife or husband ever get tired of hearing “I love you” from a spouse? If you think about it, prayers become the very same loving words we address to our closest loved ones in our lives right here and now, except they are addressed to the Lord."

To read the complete article, please follow this link.

To learn about the different novenas for the faithful please click here.

For more novenas and prayers, please check out The Novena Book: The Power of Prayer (Hardcover) by Barbara Calamari (Illustrator), Sandra Di Pasqua (Illustrator) The Power Of Prayer.

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