Anyone intent on living as a sincere and dedicated Christian must take prayer seriously. St. Augustine didn't mince any words when he said, "If you pray well, you will live well; if you live well, you will die well; and if you die well, all will be well." The importance of prayer could hardly be summed up more clearly!

The importance of prayer has always been a great conviction of the saints. Shortly before his death, Blessed Padre Pio's superior asked him what he wanted engraved on his tombstone. The padre answered, "Write: 'Here lies a friar who prayed.'" And pray he did, especially the Rosary, from morning till night. No wonder he was able to touch so many souls and lead them closer to Jesus and Our Lady.

Lack of prayer, on the other hand, will inevitably bring disastrous consequences for anyone claiming to be a follower of Christ. Without it, the Christian experience becomes nothing more than meaningless rituals. Why? Because if someone doesn't know Jesus Christ personally - which is precisely what we experience in the encounter with Him in prayer - the liturgy of the Mass (and all the Sacraments as well) will seem to us like little more than empty ritualistic actions.

This is why so many young people get turned off by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass instead of appreciating its infinite value. Anyone who has ever worked with teenagers has heard the complaint over and over again: "I'm not going to Mass. It's boring. I don't get anything out of it!"

But they should remember the words of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen: "Many people get nothing out of Mass because they don't put anything into it." And what they fail to put into it is a personal relationship with Jesus through prayer.

PRAYER IS CRITICAL
Without prayer, many young people end up leaving the Catholic Church. Some leave for good. But others return after they find Jesus through other channels (often through Scripture reading and prayer), only to realize that He is the same Jesus who is present in the Mass.

Still other Christians who don't pray will see their experience become nothing more than a search for pious feeling. Yet merely seeking to feel good amounts to nothing more than spiritual hypocrisy. What we need are Christians who truly want to be good.

Without prayer, however, and a steady dose of it, there won't be any consistent striving to root out our sins and sinful attachments. In the same way, any worthwhile efforts to practice the daily virtues such as patience, trust, kindness, purity, and obedience will be lacking.

For that reason, we must pray, we must pray regularly, and in the words of the Gospel, we must "pray always" (see Luke 18:1). And if we need further evidence of how important prayer is, we need only look at the example of Our Lord Himself. He prayed, and He prayed always!

Jesus' life of prayer is most clearly seen in the Gospel of St. Luke. Prayer is one of this evangelist's favorite themes. He shows us its importance to Our Lady, particularly by recording her Magnificat - her beautiful canticle of praise and thanksgiving (see Luke 1:46-55). In the "infancy narratives," as scholars call them (see Luke chapters 1 and 2), great lives of prayer are also displayed in Zechariah and Elizabeth (the parents of St. John the Baptist), Simeon (whose life was open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit), and Anna (the prophetess who spent her days fasting and praying in the temple).
But most of all, St. Luke stresses frequently throughout his Gospel that Jesus prayed. Let's look at several of these instances.

First, Jesus prayed when faced with significant events in his life:

Prayer at His baptism: "Jesus also had been baptized and was praying (3:21).

Prayer at His transfiguration: "He took with Him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And as He was praying, the appearance of His countenance was altered" (9:28-29).

Second, Jesus spent long times in prayer and often went into places of solitude in order to pray:

Solitary prayer before choosing His Apostles: "He went out into the hills to pray; and all night He continued in prayer to God. And when it was day, He called His disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom He named Apostles" (6:12-13).

Solitary prayer as a regular habit: "He would withdraw to deserted places and pray" (5:16 NAB).

Other times of solitary prayer: "As He was praying alone the disciples were with Him" (9:18).

Third, the prayer of Jesus had a powerful influence on others, as we see in His teaching of the Our Father: "He was praying in a certain place, and when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. 'And He said to them, 'When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be Thy name'" (11:1-2).

Fourth, Jesus prayed in moments of great trial, such as His agony in the garden:

And He came out, and went, as was His custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him.

And when He came to the place He said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation." And He withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed, "Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done." And when He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and He said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation" (22:39-46).

Finally, Jesus' prayers displayed a variety of purposes and themes:

A prayer of joy and praise: "In that same hour He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, 'I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes'" (10:21).

A prayer of intercession: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren" (22:31-32).

A prayer for forgiveness for His persecutors: "Jesus said, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do'" (23:34).

A prayer entrusting Himself to His Heavenly Father: "The curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice said, 'Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit.' And having said this, He breathed His last" (23:45-46).

Much more about the importance of prayer to Jesus could be learned from passages in the Gospel of St. Luke, not to mention the other Gospel accounts. So do yourself a favor and read through them. Let Our Lord's own example convict you of the ne-cessity to "pray always." He certainly did!