Is it worth praying?

May is here, the hydrangeas are blooming, and spring has finally arrived. At the same time, May is also a month of prayer, especially Marian prayer – after all, May is the month of Mary. Accordingly, much prayer takes place in May, possibly more than in June. But does that even matter? Does prayer make a difference? Why should I pray at all?

What is prayer anyway?

The Greek Church Father John of Damascus once aptly expressed what prayer is: "Prayer is a lifting up of the soul to God." This sounds very technical, but it can be illustrated practically:

Prayer is always something that I do in my soul; a stone therefore cannot pray, and probably no animal either, because it is not capable of willfully aligning its soul toward God. And mere talking does not automatically become prayer if my heart is not in it. Prayer has to do with an internal alignment toward God. In prayer, I align myself not toward myself, but toward God. Prayer has a direction – it goes to God. By targeting God with my inner eye, my thoughts, words, or even actions become a prayer. If prayer means "lifting our soul to God," then in prayer our soul is with God and we have communion with Him. I accept His invitation to linger with Him. Accepting this invitation is an expression of gratitude.

We therefore perform prayer with the soul, by aligning ourselves toward God and having communion with him. Now let's come to the next question: who actually benefits from prayer?

Does our prayer benefit God?

Probably not; after all, he is perfect, nothing is lacking for him. If he is perfect, then he has everything and we cannot give him anything that he does not already have.

Does that mean God doesn't care whether we pray? No, definitely not. Although God lacks nothing, out of his unimaginable love he made himself vulnerable by creating us and loving us. Indifference is the opposite of love. If I love someone, I cannot remain unaffected by how the beloved is doing and what they do. And God loves us infinitely, so much so that he sent his only Son and gave him up for us (Joh 3:16). Therefore, it is not a matter of indifference to God how we live or whether we pray or not.

At the same time, however, it would also be wrong to say that God and His "happiness" were somehow dependent on us. The idea that God or the gods need humans to be nourished by their sacrifices and prayers and that they reward them in return with wealth, etc. – this idea belongs to paganism and was overcome by Christ.

We maintain this: on the one hand, it is not indifferent to God whether we pray or not; on the other hand, he is in no way dependent on it, but because he loves us, he rejoices in it.

But how does it look for us humans: (Why) is it good for us to pray? Can we imagine prayer as a kind of barter trade, where we give God prayer and he gives us in return what we ask for? The saying "God is not a gumball machine" is quite well known, meaning God is not a machine that we can use for our interests. On the other hand, Jesus did say: "Ask and it will be given to you" (Mt 7:7). That sounds a bit like a machine, doesn't it?

As Christians, we may believe that God hears every (!) prayer! God's reaction always (!) follows our prayer, although not always (!) in the way we would like. An example: since I was 16, I have prayed that God would show me what my vocation is – he did not answer me (for a long time) in the desired way. Five years later, however, in retrospect, I was able to recognize how God had indeed guided me during those years and gradually shown me where my path leads. Had he shown it to me immediately and without complications – I probably would have doubted it again soon. It was good that way!

Is it worth praying?

But a much more exciting question now is: is it only "worth it" to pray if we receive from God what we pray for? We tend to equate prayer and petition – but prayer is more: prayer is also thanks.

Thanking God is not just something for children or particularly pious people, but for every human being. If someone receives a huge gift, e.g., their own car for their 18th birthday or simply the unconditional love of their parents: is it not then their "duty" to thank? In some way, yes, but actually that is the wrong question, because it is less a duty and simply quite natural to be grateful for a precious gift – especially when I receive it from someone who loves me and whom I love. But from God, we have not received "a gift" – we have everything from him! The whole world, my life, my parents, my talents, the forgiveness of my sins, my redemption, friendship with him – I have received everything from Him – everything is his gift to us. And that God loves us, of that we can be certain thanks to Jesus Christ!

Prayer, or more precisely, God gives us very much in prayer: a deepening of my relationship with him, i.e., he is there for me, accepts me and answers my questions. He gives me hope, especially in bad times, comfort and confidence or new strength when I am weak, to name just a few examples that I have already experienced myself and experience again and again. All of this is great, but I think the profit for me – that is not the most important thing. After all, we do not worship the "I," but God. For him we live, him we thank, and into his presence we enter when we pray. God, nothing less – He himself is the goal of prayer. God – not we – is at the center of prayer.

The benefit we derive from prayer may be precious, but that is only secondary: it is about us, as human beings, living aligned toward God, thanking him, praising and glorifying him. This does not mean that God is not pleased when we come to him with our petitions and want something; on the contrary: He is pleased by it! By asking God for something in prayer, we recognize, on the one hand, that he is almighty and capable of everything and simultaneously express our trust that he loves us and cares for us. Nevertheless, we misuse God and prayer if we pray exclusively because we want to have something. Prayer is more!

So it is by no means only "worth it" to pray when we want something from God! Prayer is always good, because even if we have nothing to ask for or do not (immediately) get what we want: we may always give thanks and that is beautiful!

If you would like a few tips on the topic of prayer, then take a look at this:

(Author: Willy Mauser, candidate for Heiligenkreuz Abbey, theology student at the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Benedikt XVI. Heiligenkreuz)