Luke 11:10
"...To the one who knocks, the door will be opened."
Readings for Sunday: Genesis, Colossians, Luke
Reflection:
Many of us pray, and many of us are frustrated with prayer. Why? Because we treat it like a transaction: I ask, God gives. When He doesn’t give us that for which we ask, we wonder what’s wrong. Sometimes we become angry with God. But what if the problem isn’t with God, but with our understanding of prayer?
In this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke chapter eleven, Jesus’ disciples ask Him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” These were good, devout Jews. They already knew how to say prayers and ask God for things. But they saw something deeper in how Jesus prayed. The prayer practice of their teacher was rooted not in asking, but in relationship. As Jesus begins to teach them The Lord’s Prayer, one thing they notice immediately is that the Son of God begins His prayer with a declaration of love and reverence: “Father, hallowed be your name.”
Remember that when Jesus prayed, He wasn’t handing God a to-do list. He was seeking His Father’s will. Even in the garden before His crucifixion, Jesus asked the Father to let the cup of suffering pass him by. Nevertheless, He added, “not my will, but yours be done.”
That’s the heart of real prayer: not asking for stuff or even miracles, but for God’s will, God’s kingdom, and to be in God’s presence now and forever. When we pray like that, when we seek the Holy Spirit, we start to understand prayer as Jesus did. And God, who is our loving Father, will always respond with what we truly need. So maybe the question is not just, “Am I praying?” but, “Am I praying like Jesus?”
Reflection Questions
- What does it mean to approach God as a loving Father, and how might that change the way I pray?
- In what ways can my prayer become more about my relationship with God rather than simply asking for things?
- How can I learn to trust God’s will, even when the answer to my prayer is “no” or silence?