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 Power of Prayer
1. Praying. The Gospel says, “in a certain place,” because you need to find not only your time but also your space to pray. Your fast-paced life and constant dealing with problems can make you forget about your time and space to talk to God. We feel demanded by others all day. There are even days when I feel like I talk about God a lot but very little with God. That’s because I’m always on the go and never find the time and space to make my own. Sometimes we are ‘invaded’ by people, but other times we allow ourselves to be invaded, which leads us to neglect what’s essential: prayer. Think about your time and space for prayer today. Look for a calm place where you can be yourself, without having to explain anything to anyone. You’re just there to receive. Find your time and space for prayer so that you can always meet with God and with yourself.
2. Teach us. We came to this life to learn. Every day we learn something, and someone can always show us a path with their simple teaching or with their life. Life makes you a receiver, because the day you think you know it all may be the day that life itself makes you look like a shallow and ignorant person. The problem in your life isn’t making mistakes; the problem is thinking that you know everything and that you never make mistakes. That’s the big mistake.
3. Father. The Lord’s Prayer implies both surrender and recognition. It’s about recognizing that we can’t do everything and that we need God to be able to forgive and to avoid falling into temptation. I think the hardest thing for us isn’t to recognize that God is our Father, but rather to understand that we always need God, because we can’t do anything alone.
Never forget that something good is on the way! God bless you and guard you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
