News Archive

August 2016

In Chapter Eleven, verse 1-13 of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus’ disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. We all know the Lord’s Prayer (from Matthew’s version from the Sermon on the Mount, which is a bit longer than this one) but what we need to notice in Luke’s version is the attitude of prayer Jesus teaches His followers. To pray is not to impose our will on God, but to ask God to make us open to His will. In other words, we pray not to change God’s mind, but for God to change ours.

Prayer has three important elements:

• Acknowledging the goodness and love of God. God is our loving Father who delights in providing for His children’s needs.

• Asking that we may do God’s will. Prayer that is worthy of God, asks for the grace to do His work of forgiveness and reconciliation.

• Voicing our hope in the providence of God. We come before God, knowing that, just as parents provide for their children, and a friend will help a friend, God will hear our prayers and give us what we need and more. Although it may seem that our prayers are unanswered, we live with the confidence that God is always present.
  

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