intimacy is communication , and communication with God is prayer .” 139 The holy Spirit sent as a gift , to guide , to counsel , to move man to action , to move man to seek relationship with God , the creator of the universe through prayer . St . Therese of Lisieux wrote , “ 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 .” 140 Prayer is the woman at the well who thirsts for living water , Jesus tells her , “ whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst ; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life ” ( RSV , Jn 4:14 ). The holy Spirit sent to reveal God ’ s great love for His people is the living water . He seeks to open the hearts and the minds of God ’ s people , to communicate relationally with God through Jesus Christ . 141
Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ . It is the action of God and of man , springing forth from both the Holy Spirit and ourselves , wholly directed to the Father , in union with the human will of the Son of God made man . 142
The most perfect prayer God ’ s people can pray , The Lord ’ s Prayer , given to God ’ s people by His Son , “ Jesus not only gives us the words of our filial prayer ; at the same time , he gives us the Spirit by whom these words become in us ‘ spirit and life .’ [ Jn 6:63 ]” 143 The
139 Peter J . Kreeft , Catholic Christianity : A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church , ( SF : Ignatius Press , 2014 ), 376 . 140 The Catechism of the Catholic Church , no . 2558 . See St . Therese of Lisieux , Manuscrits autobiographiques , C
25r . 141 The Catechism of the Catholic Church , no . 2652 . 142 The Catechism of the Catholic Church , no . 2564 . 143 Peter J . Kreeft , Catholic Christianity : A Complete Catechism of Catholic Beliefs based on the Catechism of the
Catholic Church , ( SF : Ignatius Press , 2014 ), 391 .