Lord, teach us to pray

In the reading from the Gospel of Luke for this coming Sunday, we hear Jesus' disciples say to him, "Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." This request prompts Jesus to utter Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer. But Jesus continues teaching beyond just this prayer, showing this disciple and the others who are present the value of prayer and persistence in it.

Surely Jesus has in mind the example of the patriarch Abraham in the first reading from Genesis. In this famous story, in which God has made known to Abraham that he is going to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham persists in his requests for God's mercy. Seeking to save those in the city, Abraham pleads with God to save the cities if only a certain number of people are righteous. What starts off as 50 righteous people moves down to 45, then 40, and so on until he finally arrives at only 10 people. The Lord replies, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it." While in the end there are not even 10 righteous people, and so the Lord does destroy those cities, the lesson in this story is that God does indeed listen to our requests for mercy.

Returning to the Gospel, Jesus uses several parables to also show the value of requesting God's mercy in prayer and supplication. He then utters those beautiful words, "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." The lesson here is simple: God delights in our prayer and wants to be known by us! God wishes for us to turn to him, to seek him, to ask things from him. God's mercy is abundant and ready to be lavishly poured out.

So, as we continue through our weeks and our daily lives, let us not forget this lesson from Jesus: prayer is valuable! Not just the memorized prayers such as the Lord's Prayer, which are certainly valuable, but especially pray from the heart. When we ask, seek, and knock, God is delighted! And while we may not always immediately see or know the effects, Jesus' promise here is that our prayers are not lost or ignored.

Want to prepare your heart and mind for Mass this weekend? Click here to find the readings this Sunday's Mass.