Many Catholics long for the intimate life of prayer Saint Thérèse describes. Yet for people who live active, demanding lives, prayer can often feel difficult to sustain or hard to fit into daily routines. Our search for greater depth in prayer reflects a longing for communion with God and for prayer that is real and life-giving. Nevertheless, the Catechism reminds us that prayer is always a battle: a struggle with willfulness, distractions, and the quiet temptations that pull us away from our prayer.

I am no expert on prayer. Like every believer, I face the familiar challenges of maintaining a vibrant prayer life: finding time, resisting self-reliance, staying attentive, and engaging in the inner struggle to conform my will to God’s. Intellectually, I know that prayer is an act of surrender, entrusting myself to God’s providence and accepting His invitation to die to self so that His life may take deeper root in me. Yet doing what prayer asks of us is not easy in practice.

What I offer here are a few reflections from my own journey of prayer: lessons learned through years marked by struggle, grace, and the gradual discovery of how patiently God labors to love us and provide for us.

Growing up in a Catholic family, I learned at an early age how to say my prayers. The memorized prayers taught me by parents and teachers gave my heart a first taste of the great tradition of Catholic prayer. I remain grateful for that foundation, especially during seasons when prayer feels dry or difficult. As I grew older — particularly through my Catholic high school experience and youth ministry — I discovered that prayer involved more than reciting words. I was introduced to the idea of personal conversation with God and given tools to begin forming my own prayers.

Through the Church’s liturgy and Sacred Scripture, I encountered a deeper way of praying: one that, when I was faithful, led me to a closer friendship with Jesus. Serving at the altar brought me frequently into the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, where I learned to listen more attentively. During those formative years, I became aware that God was inviting me to surrender more fully to His plan. In time, that invitation led me to the seminary and, ultimately, to the priesthood.

Seminary deepened both my understanding of prayer and my awareness of how challenging it can be. I experienced moments of genuine intimacy with Christ and glimpsed what true holiness looked like. In my years of priesthood, I have been humbled by the prayerfulness of brother priests and faithful parishioners and by their perseverance in prayer.

Along my journey, a few essential lessons have stood out. These are the ones I return to frequently:

• Prayer always begins with God. He takes the initiative, speaking to us long before we speak to Him. The Holy Spirit, received in Baptism, prays within us, giving voice to desires too deep for words and shaping our imperfect efforts into an offering pleasing to the Father.
• Prayer must be rooted in real life. We all must drink from our own wells, bringing to God our thoughts, emotions, struggles, and hopes as they actually are. Prayer is a way of learning to see our life through Christ’s eyes.
• While prayer requires set times, it cannot be confined to them. Prayer is a relationship, and God desires to accompany us throughout the day. Brief moments of attentiveness — pausing to listen and to acknowledge God’s presence — help keep that relationship alive.
• The Psalms and the Church’s liturgy remain reliable teachers of prayer. They give us language when our own words fail and serve as touchstones that draw us more deeply into prayer.
• In prayer we should not seek consolations, as much as the One who consoles. God’s guidance in prayer is always gentle: He corrects with mercy, consoles with care, and leads us patiently toward freedom. Accept whatever God brings in prayer.
• Building a prayerful life takes time. Like learning to ride a bicycle, prayer cannot be mastered through theory alone. It is learned by entering into the struggle and gradually finding the balance that allows prayer to become a living force within us.

May God bless your prayer!

Voices of the Saints on Prayer

St. Augustine:

“Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.”

St. Teresa of Ávila:

“Prayer is an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.”

St. John Vianney:

“Prayer is to our soul what rain is to the soil … it will remain barren unless fed by frequent rains.”

St. Francis of Assisi:

“We are what we are before God, and nothing more.” (Let your prayer be humble, simple, and true.)