Prayer and Church? Why Bother?

Why Prayer? Why Church?
Work, think and pray, make this your motto for life and handle life right. By thinking and praying you can overcome anything you encounter in this life. How much do you pray and consistently work at it? By thinking and praying you can do a tremendous job with this life. Nurture great thoughts, for you will never go higher than your thoughts.
Why do you go to church? Why do I? The real reason is that we want to live. We want life – vital, enthusiastic, wonderful life that is what we want. And church is the place to get it, too, because that is where your thinking and praying should become unlimited. To think on Christ’s covenant with us, of our receiving His body and blood into us through the Holy Eucharist, it’s something to be in awe, reverence and concern about. It ought to inspire us to want to know more about our Lord and what He wants from us, and for us to do. There are works God wants us to do and we can find them out in the Bible.
In Christianity there is a tremendous offer. It tells you that you can rise above pain, you can rise above illness, you can rise above defeat, you can cast off fear, you can live with joy, and you can have power in your life and have an eternity in Heaven. But don’t you think you are going to get it, just by saying, "This is what I want, I’ll take it." Oh, no. You have to think it until your whole consciousness is saturated with it, you have to pray it, and you have to work at it.
God does incredible things, the things which are impossible with men are possible with God, says the Bible, pray and think about God making you the real person whom you long to be in the depth of your heart. Keep on contemplating God’s Word, and keep on praying, and above all keep on going to church.

Four First Things I Learned from God’s Word in the Bible
Do not be lead astray.
Continue to overcome yourself.
Persistently prepare your mind for action.
Do not fall into nor choose temptation.