Prayer, at its core, is a 'loving relationship' with God, says DC-based Dominican friar

 “He got up very early in the morning and went away to a deserted place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

This verse is from the Gospel of Mark, one of the three Synoptic Gospels. The Gospel of Mark is attributed to St. Mark the Evangelist and is believed to be the first written gospel.

The website of the Basilica of the National says, "Although he was not a direct disciple of Jesus, St. Mark is the author of one of the four gospel accounts and played an important role in spreading the gospel as a missionary in the early church." Washington DC. Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in

The new book, a devotional book called 'Light of Today', can help open eyes to God 'as a living reality'.

The fact that Jesus went alone to pray may seem unnecessary, said Fr. Patrick Marie Briscoe, O.P., Washington, D.C. A Dominican friary located in.

After all, Briscoe said, "Can't he always talk to dad?"

"Praying alone doesn't seem like such a thing, to be honest, it was necessary," he said.

"There are even bigger questions. Many times when we pray, we ask whether certain things will happen in the future. Shouldn't Jesus know by His divine knowledge what is going to happen?" Briscoe said.

For Christians, faith means staying focused on 'life that is eternal,' California professor says

"And besides, couldn't he do whatever he wanted because of his divine power?"

Briscoe said, according to Christian tradition, Jesus Christ had a divine will and a human will – and these wills were different.

"This is why, for example, Jesus labored in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing in his human will that his coming death would require courage and perseverance," he said.

Prayer, Briscoe said, "is about uniting our desires with God's, about adopting into our lives what God wants for us."

Texas pastor says faith in Jesus is 'the smartest, scariest, most thrilling and gratifying path anyone can take.'

He added, "Archbishop Fulton Sheen says, 'Prayer begins by talking to God, but it ends by listening to Him. In the face of absolute truth, silence is the language of the soul.'"

Briscoe said, "In prayer we learn to desire with all our might the happiness and peace that God desires for us."

"But Jesus prays for another reason too. He prays because He knows that certain things will happen only in prayer. God, in His providence, orders certain things to happen only because people Let's pray for him."

He said, "Some things will be accomplished only because God wants us to pray for them. Every one of us."

Jesus' act of prayer also serves as a model for humanity, Briscoe said.

He said, "Jesus is our teacher, our master. And we are called to follow him. And he knew this, and so he left us an example of his prayer."

With Christ, the way for prayer has opened for the world, Briscoe said.

He said, "He himself is the way that leads us to the Father." “He tells how to go to the Father, how to find Him and how to spend time with Him.”