Pope says God welcomes prayer offered with heart full of praise

Published: 2003-11-05

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Prayer offered to God with a heart full of praise and a clear intention to follow the path of goodness is welcomed by God as a sacrifice, Pope John Paul II said. When, as in the Psalms, believers praise God in prayer and beg for God's help in avoiding sin, they are acknowledging the close tie between "worship and life, prayer and existence," the pope said at his Nov. 5 general audience. Under a bright morning sun in St. Peter's Square, the pope's teaching focused on Psalm 141 and its use in the church's evening prayer. The psalmist prays, "Let my prayer come like incense before you, the lifting up of my hands like the evening sacrifice." Pope John Paul said the psalm illustrates that "prayer made with a pure and sincere heart becomes a sacrifice offered to God."

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