Today’s readings speak to us about prayer. Prayer is communication
with God. In prayer we not only express our appreciation and adoration
of God, but also bring our needs to God. From our hearts we offer to
God the cares and concerns of our world, family, friends, and
ourselves. We give thanks to God for all blessings, even those that we
do not recognize. Through our prayers, we ask God’s help and
intervention in our lives.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus encourages us in a threefold call to prayer:
ask, seek and knock. He tells us that this kind of prayer yields
results. God hears the prayers that we bring before Him and He does
respond.
The value of prayer is not to manipulate God into doing what we want
Him to do. The value of prayer lies in what prayer does to us. First,
prayer helps us to focus on our dependency upon God. Without God, we
have nothing; we can do nothing. Prayer humbles us before God to ask
for blessings upon our lives. Prayer reminds us to trust God. Jesus
tells us that God is a loving Father who gives His children what is
good for them. In addition, prayer can bring us peace and strength.
When we place our needs before God, we know that we have given them to
the highest power and authority.
The Church calls us to use Lent as a time to be strengthened in our
prayer life. Lenten devotions, Scriptural prayer, quiet reflection
times, and the liturgy provide ample opportunities for us to pour out
our hearts to God in prayer. It is up to us to ask, to seek and to
knock that our prayers may transform us and prepare us to receive what
our loving Father has in store for us.
In this Lenten season, let us look into our hearts and see what it is
that we want to ask of God. Lets make it a point to do just that. God
is waiting for our call.
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