Prayer is important because it helps connect us to God's presence even when life gets busy. Though God is always with us, prayer brings our relationship with God to the foreground of our consciousness. Prayer can take the form of a heartfelt turning toward heaven in recognition of God's love for us. It responds to God's thirst for a relationship with us. When we pray, we realize that we already possess a bond with God and don't need to seek it elsewhere. Pope Francis emphasizes that studying religion without prayer is ineffective, and that we come to truly know Jesus through praying to him.

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Sometimes life gets busy and as we bustle through our work week
we have many things that draw our attention to them, we have
work, chores, family needs and much more. In all this ‘busyness’
where is God? We’ve allowed our busyness to distract us from this
special time with God.
Whether we know it or not, we are already in the presence of God
and united with God because God is everywhere. Prayer helps us to
bring to consciousness this precious bond we have with God and
his saving love. Thomas Merton points out: “In prayer we discover
what we already have...We already have everything, but we don’t
know it and we don’t experience what we already possess...The
whole thing boils down to giving ourselves in prayer a chance to
realize we have what we seek. We don’t have to rush after it.. It is
there all the time, and if we give it time it will make itself known to
us.
What is Prayer?
Section 4 of the Catechism, that section which deals specifically
with prayer, doesn't begin with a detailed teaching or definition. It
gives a very brief introduction and then quickly presents an
experience of prayer from St. Therese Lisieux;
"For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned
toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing
both trial and joy." (CCC 2558)
She doesn't give a Miriam Webster or wikipedia-style definition.
The Little Flower instead, describes her own experience. A surge
of the heart...a took toward heaven...a cry of recognition...an
embracing of trial and joy.
"You must realize that
studying without
prayers is no use. We
must pray to Jesus to
get to know him
better. Pray to
Jesus...we’ll never
know Jesus without
praying. Never!
Never!"
- Pope Francis
Prayer begins as the heart surges toward heaven. But
why does the heart surge? In article 2561 we're told
why. This surging of the heart is "a response of love
to the thirst of the only Son of God."
The heart surges as it realizes that it's Lord and
maker is thirsting for it! Our heart responding to this
thirst of God's is a reaction to the prayer that first
began with God. The thought to pray enters our
minds at those times when we become suddenly
aware of God thinking about us. How often does God
think about you? Always!
Therese then tells us that prayer for her is a cry of
recognition and of love. What does she mean? I'm
immediately reminded of the very first time I saw the
woman who would become my wife. Whenever my
kids have asked 'How did you know?' I tell them that
the very first time I saw her, my heart leaped in my
chest, a wave of emotion washed over me, and I
suddenly found myself thinking 'Oh! There you are!' I
couldn't shake the feeling that I had just
encountered the very person I had been searching for
my whole life...someone I knew whom I had just lost
sight of for awhile.
It was a cry of recognition and for Therese this is the
cry of her own heart as she surges towards her Lord
"Oh! There you are!"
It is an embracing of trial and joy. This too is love.
This kind of reaction takes us completely out of the
realm of the world that says, "I'll stay with you as
long as you make me happy" this is a readiness to
stay in each other's arms no matter what may come.