For many very good Christians one of the biggest questions that they have about their faith life relates to how they are to talk to God; or to put it another way, how they are to pray. In this Sunday’s readings, we are given some of the most powerful lessons about prayer that are found in the Scriptures. In the first reading from the Book of Genesis, we are allowed to listen in on a conversation that takes place between Abraham and God. The Gospel contains an actual lesson in prayer from Jesus to His disciples. Both have a great deal to teach us about the way in which God invites us to communicate with Him. They provide an invitation to relate to God freely, openly as we authentically come before Him. They also encourage us to trust that God will always hear our prayers; even if it can sometimes take us a while to understand His answer. In order that we might understand His answer, Jesus promises us that His Father will send us the gift of His Holy Spirit.
In the first reading from the Book of Genesis, Abraham speaks to God with shocking honesty. Abraham openly questions a course of action that God has told him that He intends to follow. It is almost as if Abraham is conducting a negotiation with God. This provides us with an important lesson for our own prayer. God invites us to relate to Him honestly and authentically. God knows everything about us; He made us and fit us together in our mother’s womb. It is perfectly acceptable to share our anger with God, our fear, our sadness or any other emotion. God is big enough to take anything that we can serve up. It is only by honestly and openly expressing our hearts to God that He is able to speak to us and call us to the place that is required for our growth. There are some people who think that they should not express themselves freely with God. They believe that they must always speak to Him as though He were a distant king to be feared and dreaded. The first reading shows us that Abraham speaks to God as a loving Father. Abraham shares with God all that he thinks about the situation at hand. The conversation that takes place between Abraham and God is a good example of informal prayer. This is the kind of prayer where we simply open our hearts to God and allow Him to know us for who we are. By the grace of His Holy Spirit, God will then respond to our prayer according to what it is that we and others require for salvation.
This is in fact what happens in today’s first reading. God tells Abraham that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are so evil that they must be destroyed in order to prevent all of creation from being contaminated by them. Abraham attempts to negotiate with God, asking Him to spare the cities for the sake of the good that are within them. The fact is that God knows that there are no good people within them and that their survival will doom all of humanity. However, even though God knows the course that He must take, He listens to Abraham and helps him to come to the same conclusion which God has already come to. Because Abraham is able to speak openly with God, he is able to come to an acceptance of the plan which God has in mind. Honest and open prayer allowed Abraham to move to an acceptance of God’s plan. God wants us to speak to Him from our hearts, sharing with Him honestly our joys, pains, triumphs and sorrows. This will allow Him to touch our hearts and draw us closer to Him.
The Gospel of Luke that we hear proclaimed today presents us with one of the best lessons on prayer in the entire Bible. It is so perfect because it is presented by Jesus Himself. In response to His disciples’ question, “teach us to pray,” Jesus teaches them the beautiful words of the Our Father. For Christians this is the perfect prayer. In it we learn that God wants us to pray to Him calling Him by the intimate name “Father.” He wants us to speak with Him in a loving and trusting manner. At the same time, this formal way of praying also allows us to understand the correct expectations that we should bring to prayer. We do not pray that “my will be done.” We pray rather that God’s name may be holy, which means that it be reverenced by all people. The disciple then prayers that he or she might build up God’s Kingdom and do His will in his or her actions. In the Our Father we ask God to give us our daily bread—a reminder that our prayers for more than this may not be according to God’s will for us or others. The ancient spiritual writers used to remind Christians that this “daily bread” was the Eucharist and to pray for it was to pray to live the day in God’s loving presence. The Christian also prays for forgiveness, knowing that he/she must be willing to forgive others if he/she wishes to know God’s forgiveness. The petition that “we not be led into temptation” ought to give us a pretty good indication that if what we are praying for is to receive something that is not beneficial for our salvation, or an object of sin, we are not likely to receive it from our loving Father. In the Catechism of the Catholic Church there is an excellent explanation of the seven petitions of the Our Father. This is about 30 pages in length and can be found in article numbers 2759 to 2865. The Catechism also calls this prayer “the summary of the entire Gospel.”
As important as the words of the Our Father are, so too is what Jesus tells His disciples about how they are to pray. The disciple is to be persistent in prayer. This means that we are to pray constantly. By reciting the Our Father several times a day, we are molded by these Divine words that were taught to us by Jesus Himself. The constant repetition of these sacred words in our hearts allows the Lord to form us and make us truly His disciples. One of the reasons why Luke’s version of the Our Father is so important is that it teaches us that by prayer what God really promises us is that we should receive the Holy Spirit, which will strengthen us to do God’s will and build up His kingdom on earth. Ultimately, continuously reciting this prayer will make us true disciples. In the early Church, there was a simple practice among Christians of saying this prayer three times a day. I believe that this would make an incredible start to a prayer life that would truly make a difference for each person who were to commit to doing so. It would be as simple as praying one Our Father slowly at the beginning of the day, one in the middle of the day, and another as they day ends. I would strongly encourage anyone who wants to pray as a disciple of Jesus to consider embracing this simple practice regularly.
Since I have been writing about prayer, let me conclude by saying, please pray for me and know that you are in my prayers.
Fr. Michael McGourty
Pastor, St. Peter’s Parish—Toronto, Ontario
This reflection is based upon the readings for the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C: Genesis 18: 20-32; Psalm 138; Colossians 2: 12-14; and Luke 11: 1-13.
