Whether performed privately or communally, in silence or aloud, prayer serves as a grounding force that nurtures inner peace, strengthens resilience, and deepens one’s sense of purpose and connection. In a world of noise, social media, judgement, and even chaos, prayer is an essential way to find the true, good, and beautiful both in yourself and in others.
The National Library of Medicine states that prayer helps people feel loved and relived from depressive symptoms. Additionally, they stated that “our findings highlight the importance of prayer in enhancing positive emotions and well-being in later life.”
It is a well-known fact that all humans have a natural instinct toward God, and this is encouraged and developed through prayer. Not only that, but man better understands himself and comes to be at peace and find true rest in prayer. Saint John Chrysostom said that “prayer…gives joy to the spirit and peace to the heart.”
In the times that we do not have anything to do, or when we are feeling stressed or anything we ought to turn to prayer. Within prayer we find full peace and a centering of ourselves. Tertullian wrote that “prayer gives the armor of patience to those who suffer, who feel pain, who are distressed.” Although sleeping may, on first thought, seem to be the best way to find rest, it realistically provides mainly bodily rest. While it also helps calm the mind, it does not help mentally or spiritually as much as prayer.
However, that is not to say that sleep is unnecessary, and that we should pray at all times. There is a time for everything, and we would not be given the day versus the night unless there were things specific to each that we were meant to do. Thus, the night is for sleeping and the day is for acting and living. Yet, at the same time, we can pray constantly, no matter what we are doing. Philippians 4:6-7 actually encourages us to pray at all times; both Saint Teresa of Avila and Padre Pio believed our lives to be a constant prayer in simply living in a way honorable to God. Furthermore, Saint Teresa of Avila firmly understood mental prayer to be a constant conversation with God.
Thus, our lives should be one long prayer.
Does this mean we need to always be kneeling praying to God or look extra pious with our hands always folded?
No.
We should live out our faith, and in doing so we will be living a life of prayer. In doing so we find true peace because we are ordering our desires to the true, good, and beautiful as they are made to be.
However, if we are failing at living a life of prayer (as we all do because we are human), we can still find consolation in prayer. Whether we go to Mass, pop into the chapel, or simply make time in our rooms or going on a walk, we are still inviting God in to give us true rest and peace. We are inviting him to re-order ourselves so that we reflect and become one with the good, true, and beautiful.
Students at Franciscan University are naturally assumed to be dedicated church-goers, and avid Port attendees. This, no doubt, impacts Franciscan’s impact on the world as their students tend to be less depressed and more confident (not only in their prayer life). Yet, the greatest impact prayer has is within the students’ individual lives. So, I encourage everyone to pray often, live a life of prayer, and first perfect yourselves then help perfect the world.