"We ought always to pray and not become discouraged." St. Luke

It is impossible to overstate the importance of prayer; it is impossible to overstate the power of prayer.

St. Paul once said: "Whatever is written (in the Bible) is written for our instruction." Let us take a few examples from the pages of Sacred Scripture to show the power of prayer.

We read in the book of Exodus (chapter l7, v. 8-13), And Amalec came, and fought against Israel in Raphidim. And Moses said to Josue: Choose out men: and go out and fight against Amalec: tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill having the rod of God in my hand. Josue did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against the Amalec; but Moses and Aaron and Hur went up upon the top of the hill. And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame: but if he let them down a little, Amalec overcame. And Moses hands were heavy: so they took a stone and put under him and he sat on it: and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands on both sides. And it came to pass that his hands were not weary until sunset. And Josue put Amalec and his people to flight, by the edge of the sword.

Take another instance, We read in the book of Genesis that God planned to destroy the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their unnatural vice. And Abraham spoke to the Lord, "Wilt Thou sweep away the innocent with the guilty? Suppose there are fifty innocent men in the city, must they too perish? Wilt Thou not spare the place to save fifty such innocent men that dwell there? . . .And the Lord told him, "If I find fifty innocent citizens in Sodom, I will spare the whole place to save them."

And Abraham answered, "Dust and ashes though I be, I have taken it upon me to speak to my Lord, and speak I will. Etc. (Gen. 18).

Abraham was ashamed to ask for less than ten and gave up. But the lesson is obvious; God would have spared the cities if ten men of good lives, ten prayerful men could have been found.

Now, if you want an even more powerful example of what prayer can do, turn to the crucifixion scene. It seems from the Scriptures that the two criminals, between whom Our Lord was crucified, at first cursed Him, abusing Him for not working a miracle and saving them from the terrible torment of the cross; but finally the good thief, the one on the right, touched by a very special grace, turned to Christ and said simply: "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Our Lord said immediately: "This day thou shalt be with me in paradise." It may have been the thief's first prayer; it was certainly his last, but by that one little prayer he gained heaven. St. John Chrysostom in a beautiful sermon on the passion of Christ says that the thief remained a thief, for he stole paradise.

So, let us never give up the most important thing in our lives, PRAYING. We ought always to pray and never be discouraged. We are not going to get to heaven any other way. If a person is saved, he is saved because he prayed; if he is lost, he is lost because he did not pray.