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DEVOTION//Augustine on prayer

DEVOTION//Augustine on prayer

St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) served as the bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430. He has been called “the most significant Christian thinker after St. Paul.” He was a prolific author of Christian works. Confessions (c. 400) and The City of God (c. 413–426) had a huge impact on the medieval church. They continue to influence Christian thought today. Martin Luther learned much from Augustine, although there were also points of disagreement.

Augustine was a man of prayer — prayer where he spoke with God, but not without listening to God speak with him through his Word. Among many other encouragements to prayer, Augustine offers the following.

The Bible is filled passages urges prayer. For example,

  • Pray without ceasing…. Give thanks in all circumstances ( 1 Thessalonians 5:16,18).

  • Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always (1 Chronicles 16:11).

  • Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests (Ephesians 6:18).

  • .I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours (Mark 11:24).

Consequently, Augustine urges Christians to establish a regular prayer life:

Let us always desire the happy life from the Lord God and always pray for it.

But for this very reason we turn our mind to the task of prayer at appointed hours, since that desire grows lukewarm, so to speak, from our involvement in other concerns and occupations.

We remind ourselves through the words of prayer to focus our attention on the object of our desire; otherwise, the desire that began to grow lukewarm may grow chill altogether and may be totally extinguished unless it is repeatedly stirred into flame.

He answers an objection to consistent prayer in this way:

Why we should pray, when he [God] knows what we need before we ask him, may perplex us if we do not realize that our Lord and God does not want to know what we want (for he cannot fail to know it), but rather wants us to exercise our desires through our prayers, so that we may be able to receive what he is preparing to give us….