precept of God and as an indispensable means of salvation. First, as a precept. God repeatedly commands us in the Old Testament to have recourse to prayer: "Cry to Me" (Jer. xxxiii. 3); "Call on Me" (Ps. xlix. 15). In the New Testament Jesus Christ expressly commands us to pray. "Ask," He says, "and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you" Matt. vii. 7; Mark xi. 24; Luke xi. 9J. "Pray, lest you enter into temptation " (Luke xxii. 40 and 46). "We ought always to pray " (Luke xviii. 1).
Prayer is necessary for all men as a means of salvation. Even were there no special commandment to pray, we should be obliged to pray in order to obtain the graces and means necessary for our salvation. We need God's grace for every thought and act pertaining to salvation; we are naturally weak and prone to evil, and can not of ourselves keep all the commandments of God. For this we need His special assistance, which, in the ordinary course of His providence. He grants only to those who pray for it. because He will not force His graces on the unwilling, and those who. really want them will surely ask for them.
Prayer is necessary for the good, for the
