Overcoming obstacles to prayer with trust, humility, perseverance

Article 177 - Catechism of the Catholic Church Series

Paragraphs 2725-2745

The Catechism explains: “The great figures of prayer of the Old Covenant before Christ, as well as the Mother of God, the saints, and he himself, all teach us this: prayer is a battle,” a battle “against ourselves and against the wiles of the tempter who does all he can to turn us away from prayer, away from union with God” (CCC 2725).

In the battle of prayer, “we must face in ourselves and around us erroneous notions of prayer” (CCC 2726). Prayer demands effort on our part. One major reason: “those who seek God by prayer are quickly discouraged because they do not know that prayer comes also from the Holy Spirit and not from themselves alone” (CCC 2726). But, “Christian prayer is neither an escape from reality nor a divorce from life” (CCC 2727).

Some say that prayer is a grand waste of time and that is why we fail in prayer. It is “useless” because it is “unproductive” and is in fact “a flight from the world” (CCC 2727). In truth, it may seem to be all these things and more. That is why “our battle has to confront what we experience as failure in prayer: discouragement during periods of dryness…disappointment over not being heard…wounded pride” (CCC 2728). Our life of prayer is not just something – it is everything. Our battle is “to overcome these obstacles…[and] to gain humility, trust, and perseverance” (CCC 2728).

One of the most “habitual difficulties in prayer is distraction” (CCC 2729).  “A distraction reveals to us what we are attached to, and this “humble awareness before the Lord should awaken our preferential love for him”, enabling us to “offer him our heart to be purified. Therein lies the battle, the choice of which master to serve” (CCC 2729). As Sacred Scripture puts it: “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

On the positive side, “the battle against [our] possessive and dominating self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart” (CCC 2730). Jesus himself insists on vigilance. Our love for the Lord poured forth into our prayers helps us recognize how intensely God loves us.

Another battle in prayer is dryness. “Dryness belongs to contemplative prayer when the heart is separated from God, with no taste for thoughts, memories, and feelings, even spiritual ones” (CCC 2731). “If dryness is due to the lack of roots, because the word has fallen on rocky soil, the battle requires conversion” (CCC 2731), which involves a movement of the heart more intently on God.

A more common battle in prayer is the temptation toward a lack of faith. “Sometimes we turn to the Lord as a last resort…In each case, our lack of faith reveals that we do not yet share in the disposition of a humble heart” (CCC 2732). We are reminded of Jesus’ words: “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Another temptation “…is acedia. The spiritual writers understand by this a form of depression due to lax ascetical practice, decreasing vigilance, carelessness of heart” (CCC 2733). As Jesus observed: “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

Certain people stop praying “because they think their petition is not heard. [T]wo questions…should be asked: Why do we think our petition has not been heard? How is our prayer heard, how is it ‘efficacious’?” (CCC 2734). Sacred Scripture reminds us: “Our Father knows what we need before we ask him” (Matthew 6:8). However, God “awaits our petition because the dignity of his children lies in their freedom. We must pray, then, with his Spirit of freedom, to be able truly to know what he wants” (CCC 2736). When we submit to “the desire of his Spirit, we shall be heard” (CCC 2737).

You ought not to feel abandoned if you do not immediately receive from God what you ask of him. Why? Because “he desires to do something even greater for you, while you cling to him in prayer” (CCC 2737). It is God’s will “that our desire should be exercised in prayer, that we may be able to receive what he is prepared to give” (CCC 2737). Christ is our model. “He prays in us and with us” (CCC 2740). “Jesus also prays for us – in our place and on our behalf” (CCC 2741).

I often recall an incident that happened many years ago when I first entered religious life. I walked into the monastery courtyard and observed an older “Brother” in our congregation walking back and forth, with his prayer book opened while smoking a pipe.

Realizing that I was nearby he suddenly turned to me and with a glimmer in his eye blurted out: “Brother, it may not be right for me to smoke while I am praying, but I’ve learned that it is ok to pray while I am smoking.” I always remembered that lesson.

The Catechism explains this further: “It is always possible to pray” (CCC 2743).  Quoting the 4th century Early Church Father, Saint John Chrysostom, it continues: “It is possible to offer fervent prayer even while walking in public or strolling alone, or seated in your shop, …while buying or selling, …or even while cooking” (CCC 2743).

This section then concludes with a challenge to each of us that “balance” in our spiritual lives is crucial. We are reminded to unite our prayer to good works and our good works to prayer. Quoting the 3rd century theologian, Origen of Alexandria, the Catechism takes up Saint Paul’s directive to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) with Origen’s words: “Only in this way can we consider as realizable the principle of praying without ceasing” (CCC 2745).

Father Hillier is director, diocesan Office of Pontifical Mission Societies, the Office for Persons with Disabilities and Censor Luborum.