Prayer
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Gospel: Matthew 6:7-15
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031125.cfm
Prayer is for us, it’s not for God. If God knows what we need before we ask, why do we need to pray? There are lots of different methods and ways to pray. Even though Jesus teaches us how to pray in today’s gospel, this isn’t the only way he prayed. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays so long that he put his disciples to sleep. In this prayer in the garden, he struggles with accepting his fate. He knows what needs to happen, but he asks God for a way out. He shared his emotions with God and God responded by giving him strength.
On the cross, Jesus had several prayers. In the gospel of John and Mark, Jesus exclaims on the cross, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” In Luke, Jesus prays, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” and “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Jesus turned to God with raw emotions, honest and genuine.
There are a lot of other places in the gospel when it references Jesus praying. The “Lord’s Prayer” only appears in the gospels of Matthew and Luke. In today’s gospel, Jesus instructs us to not babble or to use many words when we pray, but we know Jesus used a lot of words in his prayer in the garden. His advice to us is to not be performative in our prayer practice or use a lot of words to try to persuade God.
Prayer is not a means of bartering with God or changing God’s mind. Prayer is a means of bringing us to God. It helps tap us into the bigger picture we may not see right now and realigns us to who we truly are beyond our false notions and interpretations. God doesn’t want your staged social media post, he was you. In prayer, we become honest with ourselves about our suffering, our gratitude, our needs, and our wants. God works more directly with us when we are truly exposed. We connect better with God when we turn off our noise and stop hiding.
In my Sunday school class (we call it Youth Faith Formation), we start everyday with prayer. We follow a simple guide of reading the gospel, thinking through what we are grateful for, and then identifying what we hope to see in the world. We define it as scripture, gratitude, and intentions. As you journey through Lent, try to take on this way of prayer. Do it alone or even with close loved ones. Go beyond what you think you should be saying and what you actually think. What are you truly grateful for? What do you want to see in the world? Come to God with these things and see what comes back.
