Praying to Avoid Stupidities

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky ( bio - articles - email ) | Sep 01, 2025

Jesus says, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk. 14:11) Humility is a virtue that avoids arrogant self-estimation. Integral prayer helps us to know our limitations.

The Gospel reveals Jesus’ ceaseless prayers to the Father. Jesus is meek and humble of heart (cf. Mt 11:29). Though Divine, He knew His limitations (sic!) in obedience to the Father. St. Paul explains (Philippians 2:6-11):

[Jesus], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

His prayerful obedience to the Father establishes His Kingship:

Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Our prayer affirms that we depend upon God. God is God, and we are his servants. He loves us. We’re smart, but not as smart as we think we are. When we recognize our limitations before God and others, we paradoxically discover our freedom.

A prayerful heart does not pretend to be God. Acknowledging our temporal limitations removes a terrible burden. Pope John XXIII famously concluded his night prayers with, “Lord, it’s your Church. I’m going to bed.” John XXIII did not overestimate his importance as the Vicar of Christ. We could apply the same prayer to our circumstances.

The familiar and useful prayer, “Let go and let God,” makes a similar point. We are limited in our humanity and dare not overestimate our importance and influence. Like John the Baptist, the “greatest man born of woman,” our useful life in God’s service has an expiration date. The complexities of human nature and God’s plan for us shape our self-expectations. We follow our dreams (as we so often hear), but only under God’s sovereignty.

The prayer of the sacred liturgy and private prayer are complementary. Without pressing the distinction too far, the liturgy—the public worship of the Church—presents the fundamentals of the faith and God’s revelation over the liturgical year, and cyclically throughout history. We receive the central elements of the faith in public worship—including the prayer of the Divine Office (encouraged for everyone, but required for priests and religious).

Private prayer derives from the Church’s public worship, and we apply the insights inspired by God’s grace to our daily affairs. Our public worship reinforces the realities of the Incarnation, Redemption, and Salvation. Jesus reconciles God and man, faith and reason, the Catholic religion and science. The material and spiritual universe are complementary, not in opposition. Ditto our body and soul. Wounded by sin, our body is the sacrament of our soul. Catholics never deny God’s good creation.

Faith gives us God’s worldview. God creates. Original Sin distorts our freedom. Jesus redeems us. We live according to His plan. Responding to His grace, we enter into eternal life as His friends. Prayer acknowledges that God is in charge and we are His servants. Our faith enlightens the path of human reason. We reject evil and only choose morally good actions.

Prayer humbly recognizes our limitations and failures. Prayer (especially liturgical prayer) provides God’s perspective. With God’s grace, we slowly discover our reasonable capabilities as we invoke God’s blessings on us, our families, and the world. Prayerful resolutions reveal our resolve to make choices in life that intelligently abide by God’s plan. Yes, God will provide. But He gives us the tools to use in freedom.

Faith without reason denies the dignity of our cooperation with God’s grace. Some may abuse prayerful appearances to escape their responsibilities before God with a spiritually truncated understanding of the cliché, “God will provide.” Those who invoke mindless prayer—like magic—use piety as window dressing. Truly prayerful people do not use prayer for escapist purposes.

But reason, devoid of faith, unleashes a dangerous Godless self-understanding. The Devil’s temptation in the Garden is perennial: “Ye shall be like gods.” The rejection of religion gave rise to the 18th-century Enlightenment, the Age of Reason. During the French Revolution, after the Jacobins lopped off the heads of Catholic priests and religious, the revolutionaries seized Notre Dame Cathedral. They rebranded the statue of Mary as the Goddess of Reason. Modern murderous totalitarian ideologies are the children of the Enlightenment. The various forms of contemporary madness—such as the insanity that a male can transition to a female—are rooted in corrupt philosophies and the degradation of human reason adrift from faith.

Faithful prayer gradually enlightens and purifies human reason. The precepts of faith—such as the one God Who creates—are guardrails of our reasonable pursuits. Prayer recognizes God’s dominion and helps us know our limitations as human reason encounters the mysteries of faith. Prayer reminds us that we are accountable to God and will stand before Him on the Day of Judgment.

Prayer helps families remain intact. Prayer helps dads abide with their families and become role models for their kids. Prayer gives us the strength to prevent the condoning of the sinful behavior of children. A family that prays together, stays together. Prayer helps priests remain faithful to the Gospel. A prayerful nation endows meaning to the concluding words of the Pledge of Allegiance: “One nation under God.” It is never trite when religious and secular leaders call for prayer.

Prayer helps us avoid stupidities, such as ruining our lives and families with neglectful parents, absentee fathers, and rebellious children, or ruining our culture with Godlessness. Prayer is essential to humility and happiness. “Pray always and never lose heart.” (Lk. 18:1)