Prayer is our outstanding supernatural resource for fighting the wiles of the enemy!

“Prayer is, beyond doubt, the most powerful weapon the Lord gives us to conquer evil … but we must really put ourselves into the prayer, it is not enough just to say the words, it must come from the heart. And also prayer needs to be continuous, we must pray no matter what kind of situation we find ourselves in: the warfare we are engaged in is ongoing, so our prayer must be on-going also.” – St. Alphonsus

You see? Whether it’s a Navy SEAL or a Saint, we admire those who put it all on the line — go “all in!” — those who are totally dedicated to the mission … and God admires them too. Throughout salvation history, we have seen how God responds to this resolute and determined kind of prayer, just as Jesus taught His disciples. It was in Nineveh that the entire city turned back to God and did all that they could, through prayer and fasting, to “demonstrate to” God that they were absolutely resolute in this “turning.” God saw how “serious” they were about this, and He was moved (Jonah 3:3-10). This is yet another story that demonstrates how God – a perfect Father – compels His children to be truly resolute and quite serious when calling out to Him.

The heroes of our faith are the warrior saints who have gone before us. God worked mightily and miraculously through them. Therefore, we must study their ways. How did they remain so well connected, in such strong friendship with God, so that His river of supernatural grace could flow so freely through them? What do these “SEALS for Christ” teach us about the ideal spiritual disciplines, the ultimate daily regimen of prayer?

The following are those top ten ideal and most rock-solid foundational practices of an authentically strong Catholic.

1. The Morning Offering
2. The Angelus (6 AM, noon, 6 PM)
3. Mental Prayer (at least 15 minutes)
4. Spiritual Reading (at least 15 minutes)
5. Frequent Confession (at least once a month)
6. Holy Mass and Communion
7. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (regularly)
8. Acts of Mortification (especially fasting)
9. The Holy Rosary
10. Brief Examination of Conscience (at night)

Our Daily Prayer for Liberty and for a Holy Spirit Revival 

“Free us from every force of oppression, both internally and externally. Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties; by your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land. Heavenly Father, grant a Holy Spirit Revival in our land!” (Based on a prayer by the USCCB)

DRAW YOUR STRENGTH FROM THE LORD

“We belong to the Church Militant; and she is militant because on earth the powers of darkness are ever restless to encompass her destruction.” – Venerable Pius XII

Pope Benedict XVI stated that we are facing a critical moment: “In vast areas of the earth the faith risks being extinguished, like a flame without fuel.” The pope warned, “We are facing a profound crisis of faith, a loss of a religious sense which represents one of the greatest challenges for the Church today … The renewal of faith must, then, be a priority for the entire Church in our time.”

In recent decades, we have seen Satan engage the world as never before. In all of human history we have never witnessed evil promoted so effectively while virtue and character and morals are roundly mocked and rejected. Meanwhile, it could be said that the Mystical Body — the Church — has never been so unprepared for and unengaged in the challenging mission of spiritual warfare. It is obvious that Satan’s forces are well trained and well organized while ours are clearly not. At the very beginnings of our great nation, Sir Edmund Burke is said to have warned, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

Yes, we are being called upon to fight the mother of all wars against powerful evil spirits in the heavenly realm, but we are sure to meet our demise unless we discover these battles cannot be won without first acquiring God’s strength and mighty power:

“Draw your strength from the Lord and his mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. Our battle is not against human forces but against the principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, the evil spirits in regions above. You must put on the armor of God if you are to resist on the evil day; do all that your duty requires, and hold your ground” (Eph 6:10-12)  (Excerpt from Church Militant Field Manual).

Fr Richard Heilman