What is prayer and why should we pray? In the Gospel of Luke (11:1-13) Jesus, the Son of God, spent time in prayer. When his disciples ask him to teach them to pray, Jesus teaches them what we call the Lord’s Prayer. Here in the gospel according to Luke, we have an abbreviation of the prayer we are familiar with from Matthew (6:9-13) - the prayer we pray together at every Mass and many other times throughout the day.
Are we really aware of the importance of what we are saying and of the far-reaching effects of this prayer?
Jesus tells us to pray: “Father, hallowed be thy name”
Prayer is first of all a relationship with Our Father in Heaven who loves us, is interested in our good, and is near to us. He is the Father of all humanity, but especially of us who have been baptized and call ourselves his children. We are not praying to an unknown god who is far away from us. When we say hallowed be thy name, we are acknowledging that God is holy, almighty; the creator of all things and we are his lowly creatures. We should praise God every day throughout the day for his benevolence. He is our Father now and for all eternity, and he wants a personal, intimate relationship with each of us, so that we may know his goodness and experience his goodness.
“…your kingdom come”
In the prayer we are familiar with from Matthew, we add, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
The Kingdom of God is at hand when we do the will of God. God has a great plan for humanity and has revealed that plan through the Scriptures and the Church. We reach our potential for happiness in this life when we discover the specific plan God has for each of us by asking for his help every day in prayer and by keeping the commandments he has given us to guide us in the right direction.
“Give us each day our daily bread…”
Whether we are aware of it or not, we are dependent upon God even for our next breath. It is God who keeps everything in existence. Everything we have is a gift from Him and He expects us to be good stewards of what we have received. When we are concerned about what we need, we should first turn to God. In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells us:
“Do not worry and say, ‘What are we to eat? Or what are we to drink, or what are we to wear? All these things the pagans seek. Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But first, seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”
When we place God first in our lives, he will help us make good decisions about what we really need.
God provides our daily bread par excellence in the Bread of Life; Jesus Christ himself, body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Holy Eucharist. What more do we need than God himself? He is the source and summit of our lives.
“…and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive anyone in debt to us”
Forgiveness is essential for our spiritual, mental, and physical well-being. There is no offense that may be committed against us that we should not forgive; unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, hatred, etc., are all obstacles to the love of God. They enslave us to a life of misery - even to the point of affecting our physical health. If there is something we have not been able to forgive, we can begin by asking God for the grace to desire to forgive because he commands us do so. He will liberate us from our enslavement.
In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus Christ himself forgives our sins through the priest and gives us the grace to make progress in our spiritual life. If we want to deepen our faith, we should participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation once a month for the reason that we need the help that our Lord wants to give us through this sacrament.
“…and do not subject us to the final test.”
Our whole life is a process of purification. The closer we are to God through our worship, prayer, and sacramental life, the more aware we will be of how close he is to us in the challenges and difficulties that come our way. If we ask, God will give us the grace we need for every circumstance of our life. No matter how bad we have it on the worst day of our life, there will always be someone who has it worse and yet is still able to experience peace & joy - because of their faith and trust in God.
God's Promise & Our Persistence
Jesus follows with a parable about the necessity of persistence in prayer; “I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.”
We also must be persistent. St. Monica prayed for her son Augustine's conversion for sixteen years. Her perseverance was not only instrumental in her son becoming a great saint; it was also instrumental in Monica becoming a saint. If we persevere in prayer, we can be confident that it will be answered. It may be answered in the way we hoped it would be, or we may discover that God has a different plan, more consistent with the coming of His kingdom.
This Gospel closes with a promise; “… how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” If we ask, seek, knock, and persevere, the Lord will send us the Holy Spirit to help us know his will - so that we remain close to him and be happy now and for all eternity. It’s a promise.
Deacon Tom Fox, K.C.H.S., and Mary Jane Fox, D.C.H.S. are the Co-Founders & Co-Directors of Pilgrim Center of Hope. The two left their careers after a profound conversion experience and began working full-time in ministry at their parish in 1986. After several years and having impacted tens of thousands of families, the Foxes founded Pilgrim Center of Hope in 1993 as a response to the Church’s call for a New Evangelization. Deacon Tom is an invested member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a Commander Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.
Answering Christ’s call, Pilgrim Center of Hope guides people to encounter Him so as to live in hope, as pilgrims in daily life. See what’s happening & let us journey with you! Visit PilgrimCenterOfHope.org.
