What is the importance of prayer in the novel, Wheat That Springeth Green?

In the novel, prayer symbolizes both the highest expression of the bond between humanity and its Creator and the basest corruption of that bond. In its purest forms, that is with Joe and his fellow misfits at the seminary, Father Van Slaag in his lonely church pew, or Father Bill in his rectory apartment, prayer represents the intense commitment of imperfect humanity to the faith in a higher power, an omnipotent and mysterious moral authority that governs the universe itself with compassion and mercy. Prayer then is an act of humility and submission, an expression of deep faith. In the contemporary Church, driven by ego and materialism, as Joe finds out, prayer is corrupted into little more than an elaborate wish-list sent up to that same omnipotent God. Prayer then becomes an assertion of humanity’s pride.