friendship of God, to
recover it when lost by sin, are supernatural works. Only by the grace
of God can this be effected. Will God do this without being asked? Say
rather will God save us in spite of ourselves, or unknown to ourselves.
He who does not ask gives no token of a desire to obtain.

CHAPTER XXX.
PETITIONS.

FOR all spiritual needs, therefore, prayer is the one thing necessary.
I am in the state of sin. I desire to be forgiven. To obtain pardon is
a supernatural act. Alone I can no more do it than fly. I pray then for
the grace of a good confession--I prudently think myself in the state
of grace. Were I for a moment left to my depraved nature, to the mercy
of my passions, I should fall into the lowest depths of iniquity. The
holiest, saintliest of men are just as capable of the greatest
abominations as the blackest sinner that ever lived. If he does not
fall, and the other does, it is because he prays and the other does
not.

Some people have certain spiritual maladies, that become second nature
to them, called dominant passions. For one, it is cursing and swearing;
for another vanity and conceit. One is afflicted with sloth, another
with uncleanness of one kind or another. To discover the failing is the
first duty, to pray against it is the next. You attack it with prayer
as you attack a disease with remedies. And if we only used prayer with
half the care, perseverance and confidence that we use medicines, our
spiritual distemper would be short-lived.

A person who passes a considerable time without prayer is usually in a
bad state of soul. There is probably no one, who, upon reflection, will
fail to discover that his best days were those which his prayers
sanctified, and his worst, those which had to get along without any.
And when a man starts out badly, the first thing he takes care to do is
to neglect his prayers. For praying is an antidote and a reminder; it
makes him feel uneasy while in sin, and would make him break with his
evil ways if he continued to pray. And since he does not wish to stop,
he takes no chances, and gives up his prayers. When he wants to stop,
he falls back on his prayers.

This brings us to the bodily favors we should ask for. You are sick.
You desire to get well, but you do not see the sense of praying for it;
for you say, "Either I shall get well or I shall not." For an ordinary
statement that is as plain and convincing as one has a right to expect;
it will stand again