I believe there is an important relationship between prayer and becoming a better person. But as a Catholic, I don’t believe that becoming a better person is something that God will do in me without me. I need to do my part. My part is made possible by God’s grace, but the operations of God’s grace are not contrary to my free will, nor do they preclude my own efforts. Grace, as Thomas Aquinas was fond of saying, does not violate nature but perfects it. — Randall Smith