Catholic Position
¶2650 Prayer cannot be reduced to the spontaneous outpouring of
interior impulse: in order to pray, one must have the will to pray. Nor
is it enough to know what the Scriptures reveal about prayer: one must
also learn how to pray. Through a living transmission (Sacred
Tradition) within “the believing and praying Church,” the Holy Spirit
teaches the children of God how to pray.
Scripture Says
Psalm 3:4
4 I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.
Psalm 120:1
1 In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.
Psalm 62:8
8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.
Matthew 6:7
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Genesis 20:17
17 So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.
2 Kings 6:18
18 And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD,
and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote
them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.
Psalm 50:15
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Philippians 4:6-7
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Commentary
- The Catholic catechism condemns the Biblical form of prayer.
- The Bible condemns the catechism’s form of prayer.
- Which will you follow?