# St. Vincent's Manual/The Conditions of Prayer

ON PRAYER
NECESSITY OF PRAYER.
WE ought always to pray, and not to faint. — Luke xviii 1. Watch, ye, and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.—Matt. xxvi 41. Ask and it shall be given you.-Ibid. vii 7. Without me you can do nothing. —John xv 5. Not that we are sufficient to think any thing of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.—2 Cor. iii 5. God bestows some favors without prayer, such as the beginning of faith; others, such as perseverance, are granted only to those who pray.—St. Aug. To enter heaven, continual prayer is necessary after baptism; for although all sins are remitted by that sacrament, there still remains concupiscence to assail us from within, and the world and the devil to attack us from without—St. Thomas. All the graces, which God hath prepared for us from all eternity, will be granted only to prayer.—St. Thomas. Prayer is necessary, not to make our wants known to Almighty God, but to convince us of our obligation to recur to his mercy for succor, and thus to make us acknowledge him to be the author of all our works.—Ibid. God wishes to give, but he gives only to those who ask.—St. Aug. As the soul animates the body, so prayer sustains the life of the soul. As the body cannot live without the ​soul, so the soul without prayer is dead. — St. Chrys. As the flesh derives its nutriment from food, so the soul is nourished by prayer. —St. Aug. To prayer may be traced the beginning, the progress, and the perfection of all virtues.—St. Charles Borromeo. Who are we, or what is our strength, that we should be able to resist so many temptations? God certainly wished, that we, seeing that we are deficient, and that out of him there is no assistance for us, should, with all humility, have recourse to his mercy.—St. Bernard.
EFFICACY OF PRAYER.
ASK and it shall be given unto you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened unto you. —Matt. vii 7. How much more will your Father, who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him —Ibid. vii 11. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth.—Ibid. vii 8. If you shall ask any thing in my name, that will I do.—John xvi 14. You shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done to you. —John xv 7. Amen, Amen, I say to you, if you ask the Father any thing in my name, he will give it you.—Ibid. xvi 23. I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me. —Phil. iv 13. The Lord is nigh unto all them, that call upon him; to all that call upon him in truth. He will do the will of them that fear him, and he will hear their prayer and save them.—Psalm cxliv 18, 19. By prayer is obtained the possession of every good, and deliverance from every evil.–St. Bonaventure. By the practice of prayer we may construct an impregnable citadel, in which we shall be securely protected against all the snares and violence of the enemy.–St. Laur. Just. Prayer is more powerful than all the devils.—St. Bernard. Prayer is an armor capable of resisting all the assaults of the devil; it is a defence which preserves us in every danger, a port which saves us in every storm, and a treasure which supplies us with every good.—St. Liguori. He who practises prayer, sins not; and, divested of every affection, he begins to dwell in heaven, and to enjoy the conversation of God.—Ibid. He knows how to live well, who knows how to pray well.–St. Aug. He who prays shall infallibly be saved, and he who does not pray, will inevitably be lost. All the elect (infants excepted) are saved by prayer. All the reprobate are lost through neglect of prayer. —St. Liguori.
THE CONDITIONS OF PRAYER.
THE most necessary conditions of prayer, are humility, confidence, and perseverance. — St. Liguori. He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble.—Psalm ci 18. God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.— St. James iv 6. The prayer of him that humbleth himself, shall pierce the clouds ; and he will not depart till the Most High behold.—Ecclus. XXXV 21. A contrite and humble heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.—Psalm 1. 19. Thou who savest them that trust in thee.—Ibid. xvi 7. Because he hoped in me, I will deliver him and glorify him.—Ibid. xc 14, 15. But they that hope in the Lord, shall renew their strength.—Isaias xl 31. Not one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded. —Ecclus. ii 11. They that trust in the Lord, shall be as Mount Sion.—Psalm cxxiv 1. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have hoped in thee.—Psalm xxxii 22. He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, that is moved and carried about by the wind. Therefore, let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.–St. James i 6,7. Go; and as thou hast believed, so be it done to thee.—Matt. viii 13. All things whatsoever you ask, when ye pray, believe that you shall receive; and they shall come unto you.—Mark xi 24. God protects and saves all who confide in him.—St. Liguori. They that hope in the Lord shall lay aside their weakness, and put on the strength of God; they shall not faint, nor even be fatigued, in ireading the rugged ways of salvation.—Ibid. Thou, O Lord, dost not pour the oil of mercy, unless into vessels of confidence.—St. Bernard. The prayer of the just man is the key of heaven; his petition ascends, and God's mercy descends.—St. Aug. Trusting in the divine promises, lei us ever pray with confidence, not wavering, but strong and firm.—St. Liguori. To obtain final perseverance, we must continue to pray to the end of our lives. If, by our negligence, we break the chain of our prayers, the chain of graces, on which our salvation depends, will also be broken.—Ibid, Oh! how the constant application to God by prayer, and the confident expectation of receiving from him the graces we stand in need of, enkindle in us the fire of divine love, and unite us to the Divinity. Ibid. We must continue to pray until we receive the sentence of eternal salvation.—Ibid.
​All our petitions should he made through our Lord Jesus Christ. Ask in the name of Jesus Christ, through his merits; and in virtue of his divine promises.
If God is pleased by our prayers to his saints, he will be much more pleased by our supplications to his holy Mother. When we have recourse to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, it is not from a diffidence in the Divine mercy, but from a sense of our own unworthinees. — St. Anselm and St. Liguori.
See St. Liguori's excellent Treatise on Prayer.