Thursday of the 1st week of Lent

How to pray

Matthew 7:7-12


In the readings, Jesus taught about prayer while Queen Esther prayed.

It seems that prayer is automatic for all of us.  But how is prayer like when it is a way of life?

St. Benedict has a very popular idiom for prayer: ora et labora, "pray and work."  For St. Benedict believed in the combination of contemplation and action.  For St. Ignatius, there is what we call "contemplatives in the world" for people who are actively participating in the transformation of the world.

Prayer is a life of active relationship with the Lord. It is not just about asking for intentions.  Rather, my own personhood is marked by a life of unconditional relationship to God and my every action proves it.

"Ask and you will receive" involves total faith in the providence of God while "the Father knows what to give to his children" implies that even before praying for something, we believe in the innate good intentions of the Father to give life to us.

Our attitude regarding the Father should change from suspicion to submission and prayer via intention to pray via loving relationship with him, knowing that all good things will be given to us by this loving God.

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