MT 6:7-15
In the Gospel reading today, Jesus is speaking to his disciples about prayer. He starts with how when we pray, we shouldn’t be thinking that the more words we say, the more chances we have of God hearing us. This could not be more farther from the truth. Our faith does not work that way nor does that mentality reflect God’s nature. God in fact “knows what we need before we ask him,” as Jesus said. That statement alone should bring rest and peace on ourselves. Before we even say a word, He knows what it is we need. Therefore, we shouldn’t worry if we didn’t or forgot to mention something that’s been on our hearts or whether or not we formed our prayers the way we would’ve like to. Our receiving of something doesn’t depend on how “well” we said our prayers. Rather, it is deeply related to the love and mercy and compassion God has for us everyday. While it is important to voice our requests in prayer (and God does want to hear these!), we must trust that God knows our unspoken desires. Perhaps this could be our Lenten challenge: trust God that he will bring what we need in the time that we need it.
Jesus in this Gospel also gives us the prayer that we have been saying for over 2000 years: the Our Father. He says “This is how you are to pray.” This well loved prayer is so special being that it contains some important points, from remembering to keep yourself in God’s perfect will to forgiving those who hurt us. The Our Father is a prayer for unselfish love because we offer ourselves to God and ask him for the best things, not only for ourselves but also our neighbor. It ties in closely to the Greatest Commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself.