Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11, 1-4
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
The importance of praying
1. Teach us. If you look at Jesus’s life you will find He spent a lot of time praying. It is like breathing; no matter what you do, you must breathe at the same time. In this case, Jesus teaches us to pray while we do all of our daily activities. The two things go simultaneously, and prayer gives a deep sense to everything we do. It is a process to be learned.
2. Active prayer. It is the one that is carried out in everyday life. It is talking to God when you are studying and offering your study; it is praying to God when you are putting the pot on the kitchen stove for the noodles. “Your work must become a personal prayer, a real conversation with Our Father in heaven,” St. Josemaría used to say. He would often talk to God while reading the newspaper and entrust all the things that were going on to Him. We must strive to turn our daily activities into prayer.
3) Silent prayer. It is taking a moment to be alone with God. It is to exclusively talk and listen to Him. This implies turning off your cell phone and just looking at Him, seeking silence and finding oneself and God in that silence.
One could say ‘the first one – active prayer – is more comfortable for me.’ Well, the truth is we all need both. The key is to pray, so that your prayer becomes part of your life, and your life becomes prayer.
God bless you, be with you and protect you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Never forget that something good is on the way.
