III.
HOW can we fear, says St. Augustine, that our prayers will not be granted, when God, Who is truth itself, has promised to give us all that we ask of Him? To convince ourselves of this, let us weigh well the terms employed by our divine Saviour: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. . . . Your Father Who is in heaven will give good things to them that ask Him (Matt. vii. 7). Ask, and it shall be given you (Luke xi. 9) — all that we ask we shall obtain: Ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you (John xv. 7). Whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by My Father Who is in heaven (Matt, xviii. 19). But we must ask in the name of Jesus: If you shall ask Me anything in My name, that I will do (John xiv. 14). Amen, amen, I say to you: if you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it you (John xvi. 23), provided we pray with faith and confidence: All things whatsoever ye ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you (Mark xi. 24).
By these promises God has bound Himself to grant us the graces which we ask of Him. St. John Chrysostom also says that no man is so powerful as he that prayeth; and why? Because prayer makes him a participant in divine power.
Everything then becomes possible to us by means of prayer; by it we obtain from Our Lord the strength of which we stand in need. Prayer is all-powerful, says Theoderet; it alone is sufficient to obtain for us everything we require. According to St. Bonaventure, it procures us all good things, and frees us from all evil things. Prayer, says St. Bernard, is more powerful than all the devils. In fact, by prayer the soul acquires a divine virtue which places it above all created powers.
