we ask. ” At the voice of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer thee." (Isa. xxx. 19.) Hence St. Ambrose says, that ” he who asks of God, receives while he asks." (Ep. lxxxiv., ad Demetr.) And he not only grants his grace instantly, but also abundantly, giving us more than we pray for. St. Paul tells us that God is rich that is, liberal of his graces to every one that prays to him. “Rich unto all that call upon him." (Rom. x. 12.) And St. James says: ” If any of you want wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men abundantly and upbraideth not. ” (St. James i. 5.) ” He upbraideth not;" when we pray to him he does not reproach us with the insults we have offered to him, but he appears then to forget all the injuries we have done him, and to delight in enriching us with his graces.
Second Point. On the necessity of prayer.
4. ” God," as St. Paul has written, ” will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. ii. 4.) According to St. Peter, he does not wish any one to be lost. ” The Lord dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any soul should perish, but that all should return to penance." (1 Pet. iii. 9.) Hence St. Leo teaches, that as God wishes us to observe his commands, so he prevents us by his assistance, that we may fulfil them. ” Juste instat præcepto qui præcurrit auxilio." (Serm. xvi. de Pass.) And St. Thomas, in explaining the words of the Apostle, ” God, who will have all men to be saved," says: “Therefore, grace is wanting to no one; but he, on his part, communicates it to all." (In Epist, ad Hebr., cap. xii., lect. 3.) And in another place the holy doctor writes: ” To provide every man with the means necessary for his salvation, provided on his part he puts no obstacle to it, belongs to Divine Providence." But, according to Gennadius, the assistance of his grace the Lord grants only to those who pray for it. ” We believe. . . .that no one works out his salvation but by God‟s assistance; and that he only who prays merits aid from God." (de Eccles. Dogm.) And St. Augustine teaches, that, except the first graces of vocation to the faith and to repentance, all other graces, and particularly the grace of perseverance,
