Theological reasons for the necessity of prayer

 Religion often combines prayers and good deeds. Both indeed belong together. However, we sometimes have the impression that prayer is too much preferred in spiritual books. Are not acts more important? According to these, we will be judged before God, and not only because, as we read in the Gospel, we often cried to Christ: Lord, Lord … (Mt 7:21). Scripture, however, invites us to pray frequently and vigorously: Just and get! (Mt 7: 7) Watch and pray! (Mt 26:41), Be persistent in prayer! (Rom 12: 12), Pray without ceasing! (1 Thess. 5, 17). Therefore, the reality of religious life is usually measured by prayer. K. Rahner calls prayer the “concretization” of the virtue of Religion. Moralists say that adults are the prayer needed to save them (Taquería, Vermeer sch). However, it is not easy to give a rational reason why it would be so necessary to pray. The holy Thomas Aquinas thinks it is related to the very nature of man. We are imperfect, no one is enough for everything alone. Therefore, we must ask, especially God. Suarez, on the other hand, thinks that the purely natural reason for the need for prayer cannot be state Only the extraordinary goodness of God gave us the privilege, the privilege that we have to ask God for something. He allowed us to cooperate in a unique, mysterious way, even in his eternal and unchanging decisions. In this sense, we read in the Roman catechism that God could give us all good without asking him to. As a good father, however, he wants us to ask him to. This makes his goodness more prominent, and we will learn to appreciate the magnitude of God’s gifts better. Thus, according to the same catechism, it has four primary effects: L is an expression of respect for God; 2. We receive what we pray for; 3.
Growing virtues, especially faith, 4. Is a constant source of life joy. Both opinions are complementary. Therefore, modern authors like to emphasize that «the necessity of prayer arises not only from the abstract knowledge of God’s being and from the fact that we are creating creations but from the diabolical character of the Christian order of salvation. God addressed man (cf. Heb 1: 1). This address requires an answer (F. Wulf). From a psychological point of view, we understand the need for prayer, especially where we are weak and helpless, where we realize that we are not enough to work, that we will not achieve the goal we are seeking. Therefore, the need for prayer was emphasized, especially when the Church was opposed to the Pelagian and their moral self-sufficiency. At that time, Innocent writes to the bishops of the Carthage council: “Let us not try to overcome the temptations of earthly defilement and the body that clings to the world only if the grace that we achieve with strong prayers descend upon us.