There are many and various ways for us to approach and encounter God. There is no one means of prayer has a monopoly over our journey to God. God welcomes and blesses every sincere effort we make to draw close to Him. With such an awareness in mind, the Catechism of the Catholic Church lists various wellsprings within the Church’s spiritual tradition. Each of these different wellsprings offers a unique way to draw close to God and nurture our interior relationship with Him.
Among these various wellsprings, it’s no surprise that the Word of God receives first priority. Quoting the Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on Divine Revelation, the Catechism explains: “The Church ‘forcefully and specially exhorts all the Christian faithful ... to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ’ by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures... Let them remember, however, that prayer should accompany the reading of Sacred Scripture, so that a dialogue takes place between God and man. For ‘we speak to Him when we pray; we listen to Him when we read the divine oracles.’”
