Intention and goal of prayer

3.07.2015

y child, I have taught you an attitude of humility, how to search for it and how to humble yourself before God, in order not to be talkative. Now, I would like you to remember the subsequent instruction. It is not enough to pray with words, if you do not pray with the heart. And it is not enough to say “God” to glorify God. In order to glorify Holy Names by calling upon them, they must be spoken consciously and with the intention of glorying them. This is why today I desire to speak about the intention of prayer. Before you begin to pray, become aware of the purpose of prayer. Why are you praying? Is this a duty performed out of the fear of Hell? Is this an obligation performed before people? Is this a voluntary act of love sent towards God out of love for Him? Many people pray in order to receive concrete graces or to attain their own perfection. Yet, everything that man desires will be given to him, if he will be praying for God, out of consideration for Him alone and His goodness.

A pure intention of prayer is very important, because if such is the prayer, it will continue regardless of circumstances. God is unchanging and lasts regardless of any circumstances. The same should be with prayer. If it is ascending for the adoration of the Holy Trinity, nothing will ever stop it and nothing will ever defeat it; neither dryness nor circumstances, nor man, nor any evil spirit, nor earthquakes, nor wars, nor fear, nor death. The prayer of the heart is the prayer of the Spirit and in Him it is eternal and everlasting. It is precisely in Him and through Him that it becomes perfect.

If the intention of prayer is pure, the prayer will be fruitful and will bring great benefit to the soul and great consolation to God. The intention of prayer should flow out of the awareness of the great, endless good, which God bestows upon man from the beginning of his existence until his final destiny.

Everything that man gets to know with the help of the senses should turn pure wonder into prayer. Wonder at the work of creation can not end with hanging a painting depicting nature, because in this way man adores created things. The wonderment should always direct the mind of man to God in a prayer of thanksgiving. Everything that pleases the senses of man was created for him despite his ungratefulness and betrayal. However, the whole creation does not yet perfectly reflect the love of God for people.

The perfect image of this love inexpressible through creation is the Son of God, not created, but born in the flesh for the great propitiation and the Salvation of man distanced from God through sin. The perfect innocence of God becomes the payment for the sin of mankind. In this voluntary act of love is contained the entire love of God for man. Jesus, by giving His earthly life for all those who take it away from Him through their sins, expresses love in the most perfect and full way, being the real image of the Father’s love. Thus, remember that Jesus on the cross should be the first image at which you look at, so that you would not succumb to the illusion that nature is the face of God. The face of God is His crucified Son, Jesus Christ, and nature is a gift of love.

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Translated from : Nauka modlitwy sercem – modlitwa kontemplacyjna, Grzechynia 2017, p. 65-68