Prayer is the foundation of a lived relationship with God. St. Paul tells us that our prayer must be characterized by “thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). While it may be tempting to focus on the ways in which we can love God through our works, in prayer we are invited to contemplate that “we love, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19), and to be filled with thanksgiving for God’s showering of mercy and affection on us.