Why Bother Praying

This accessible volume is less about how to pray, and more about why we pray and what it does for us, for God, and for the world. The author explores the context within which we pray, what is distinctive about Christian prayer, praying to Jesus, what communal prayers do, how Mary and the Saints help us pray, and finally, what the point of prayer is sending us out with Christ to witness to the reign of God in our world.
He ultimately answers the question this way:

Why bother praying? Because at its most basic prayer is making space for God to love us and through the community of faith, and invites us to have the courage to return the compliment. It changes lives.

Why bother praying? Because God wants us to bother him, and in the process develop a relationship that is marked by such love and joy that it changes us, our neighbor and the world.Richard Leonard, SJ, Richard Leonard