xviii. i). Watch ye, and pray that ye enter not into temptation (Matt. xxvi. 41). Ask, and it shall be given you (Matt. vii. 7).
Theologians are of opinion that this way of speaking imposes the precept and denotes the necessity of prayer. Hence the learned Lessius asserts that it cannot be denied, without sinning against faith, that for adults prayer is necessary to salvation; since it is evident from the Scriptures that prayer is the only means of obtaining the aids necessary to salvation.
The reason of this is that, without the help of grace, we can do nothing good. Without Me, says Jesus Christ, you can do nothing (John xv. 5). St. Augustine remarks on this subject that Oar Saviour did not say, You can complete nothing without Me; but, You can do nothing.[1] This truth was proclaimed at the second Council of Orange, when it was defined that man does no good thing except what God enables him to do by the operations of His grace. Man is therefore quite unable to work out his own salvation unassisted, since it is God's will that all he has or can have should come to him by the help of grace. Now, this grace God only grants, in the ordinary course of His providence, to those who pray for it. According to the maxim laid down by Gennadius, "No man can attain salvation without the help of God: no man can obtain this help except by prayer." This does not mean, says St. Thomas,[2] that it is necessary for us to pray in order that God may know of what we stand in need; but that we must pray in order that we ourselves may understand our need of having recourse to God to obtain the aid necessary for our salvation, and may thus acknowledge Him as the only author of all our good.
