When St. Paul counsels us to “pray constantly,” or the Catholic Catechism calls prayer a “vital necessity,” even a good Christian might be forgiven for asking, “Why?”

Why is it necessary at all, if we believe that God knows our thoughts, loves us thoroughly and gives us all that we need?

That is, the sun will still rise, beauty will still overspread the land, suffering will still occur.

So why pray?

The poet Mary Oliver says, How to keep warm/is always a problem,/isn’t it?/Of course, there’s love./And there’s prayer.

And keeping warm – keeping our intentional relationship with God warm and alive, that is – may be the real point. Continue Reading