Pray in order to believe, Believe in order to pray.

When we can look closely at our Christian faith we will notice how it is composed of God's divine weaving of prayer and doctrine together.  Prayer and doctrine belong working together.  Liturgy is a perfect example of prayer and doctrine working in harmony together to nourish and instruct.

Our Lord asks us to believe in order to pray and pray in order to believe.  This is the integration of how we know and  love God; it's where faith and theology are joined at the hip.

Believing doctrine will naturally draw us to prayer.  In this prayer time we find reassurance and comfort because of the validity of God's revealed truths.  If we put time and effort into understanding the doctrines of our faith we will find ourselves thirsting to pray more often.  This requires study, reflection, and real effort. Prayer is a loving relationship with God, and our relationship with our heavenly Father, like all relationships require real time and makes real demands upon us.

But no love can exist without real sacrifice.