What happens if you find that prayer does not help?
Prayer does not seek superficial success but rather the will of God and intimacy with him. God's apparent silence is itself an invitation to take a step fartherin total devotion, boundless faith, endless expectation. Anyone who prays must allow God the complete freedom to speak whenever he wants, to grant whatever he wants, and to give himself however he wants.
Often we say: I have prayed, but it did not help at all. Maybe we are not praying intensely enough. The saintly Curé of Ars once asked a brother priest who was complaining about his lack of success, "You have prayed, you have sighed ... but have you fasted, too? Have you kept vigil?" It could also be that we are asking God for the wrong things. St. Teresa of Avila once said, "Do not pray for lighter burdens; pray for a stronger back."(YOUCAT question 507)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (2734-2737) and other references here.
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