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Saint Augustine suggests that Almighty God at times leaves prayer unanswered in order to increase our desire. �He who knows what to give and to whom to give it will give to him that seeks and open to him that knocks. And if he does not give, let no one call himself forsaken. For it may be that he delays to give something, but he leaves nobody hungry. If, indeed, he does not give at the expected time, he is not scorning, but rather testing, the seeker.� In considering this problem of unanswered prayer, therefore, it may help us to reflect that God himself has a very practical use for it, namely, to increase our fervor in asking him. �When he sometimes defers giving,� says Augustine, �he does not refuse his gifts, but renders them more desirable. Gifts that have long been desired are more agreeably received and those obtained speedily are considered cheap.�

The psalmist says: Why, O Lord, do you reject me; why hide me from your face? (Psalm 88:15). �Though the psalmist puts a question and asks for an answer,� observes Augustine, �he does not intend to doubt God�s wisdom or to suggest that God could have acted without reason. . . If we consider the matter closely, God�s reason is manifest. For the prayers of the saints are �rejected,� as it were, only by God�s delay in conferring favors and by the trials and adversity they are permitted to suffer. But this is done so that their fervor, like fire driven back by the wind, may burn more ardently still.

Whatever explanations may be offered for unanswered prayer, it will always remain a source of trial and affliction to a prayerful soul. But Augustine consoles us with the thought that the affliction of spirit caused by unanswered prayer is in itself an agreeable sacrifice to God. �Within me is the victim for my offering, within me the incense to be laid at the altar, within me the victim to win the favor of my God. For my sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit (Psalm 51:19). That I have such a sacrifice within me is clear, for listen to the words: I sing to God, my rock: Why do you forget me?� (Psalm 42:10). For in truth I labor here as if you had forgotten me, though well I know that you are but testing me, that though you may put me off, you will never fail to give me what you have promised. Even so, I cannot help but say, �Why do you forget me?�

Whatever reasons may be brought forward to explain apparently unanswered prayer, one thing is certain: we must never cease to pray. But here too a problem arises: for in some texts of Scripture we are told to pray without ceasing, while in another we are advised not to talk too much! Saint Paul tells us to never cease praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Saint Luke says we should be praying always and not losing heart (Luke 18:1). But in the Gospel according to Saint Matthew we find these words: In your prayer do not rattle on like the pagans. They think they will win a hearing by the sheer multiplication of words (Matthew 6:7-8). In this text we are manifestly advised to avoid verbosity, yet we are told, �always to pray and not to faint!�

Augustine offers two solutions to this problem.  One way of praying always is to cherish holy desire. �The Apostle says: Never cease praying (1 Thessalonians 5:17); that is, we must always yearn for God in our hearts.� Again, Augustine says: �It is your heart�s desire that is your prayer; if your desire continues without interruption your prayer continues also. Not without meaning did the Apostle say: Never cease praying. Does he mean that we must kneel or prostrate ourselves or lift up our hands without ever ceasing? If this is what we mean when we say that we pray, then I think it is something we cannot do always. But there is another kind of interior prayer that never ceases and that is the desire of the heart. �Wherefore, it is neither wrong nor unprofitable to spend a good deal of time in prayer, if there be leisure for it and without hindering other good and necessary work to which duty calls us; although even in the performance of such duties, as I have said, we ought to pray without ceasing by cherishing holy desire. For to spend a long time in prayer is not, as some people think, the same thing as to pray with much speaking. Loquacity is one thing; long continued warmth of desire is another.

The second way of praying always is by continuous right living. �Whose tongue could endure praising God all day long?� demands Augustine. �My sermon, for example, has been a little longer than usual and you are tired of it. Who, then, could endure praising God all day long? But I am going to suggest a method which will enable you to do so if you so desire. Whatever you do, do it well, and you have praised God.�

When we are gathered together in the church we praise God, but when we depart each to his own business it looks as if we cease to praise him. But let a man never cease from right living and he is always praising God. You cease to praise him when you turn aside justice and from all that pleases him. But if you never cease from right living, then, though your tongue be silent, your life is eloquent and the ear of God is open to your heart.

Summing up: We may say that prayer should come from a loving heart, from a heart that is right with God. Since we pray God to give and to forgive, prayer will be more effectively offered by the one who is himself prepared to give and to forgive. It must be made, with a view to salvation and with greater concern for spiritual than for material gain. Finally, it is most efficaciously offered by the one who is convinced of his own mortal need, whose soul throbs with continuous pious emotion toward the Lord, and who asks with the persistence of a lover who will not be denied. These are the qualities of truly effective prayer. Man must pray. He must speak the truth when he prays. He must pray as the Savior taught�the Lord�s Prayer.

Condensed from Augustine On Prayer, (c)1986 by Catholic Book Publishing Co., N.Y.


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