REFLECTION

GOSPEL

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.” And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Luke 11:1-13

REFLECTION:

Lord Teach us to Pray

“Ask and you shall receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

There have been times when I thought of Jesus’ words here with some resentment. “Okay Jesus, but what you must really mean is ‘ask the right question, seek the right thing, knock on the right door.’ Because it feels like I’ve been asking, seeking, and knocking persistently for a long time without receiving, finding, or having the door opened!” I’ve so far learned a couple things from those times: that asking God to “tell me what to do” or thinking that I have to “figure it out” isn’t helpful in prayer. Those tendencies sneak in subtly and frequently!

Many of us know from experience that asking a direct, concrete question to God doesn’t usually receive an answer in the way we hoped. We often pose questions to God like, “Do you want me to be a doctor, a teacher, or a missionary? Are you calling me to get married, stay single, or enter a religious life?” Very rarely does God answer by checking A, B, or C when we present a choice like that. This “tell me what to do” approach, while it includes a beautiful willingness to listen to God, also assumes that it is God’s responsibility to make my decisions for me. I implicitly resign from participation and responsibility in my own choices. It rather stunts any conversation to be had in prayer.

Often I catch myself thinking that if God isn’t answering my very clear question, then I must be asking the wrong question. Lurking in the background is the idea that I just need to figure out the question God wants to answer! This “figure it out” approach sees both God and myself as tricksters: God has a map of my life that I’m not allowed to see but I have to solve in order to succeed, while I attempt to trick God into

answering my questions.

Remembering Jesus’ words within the context of teaching us how to pray helps bring them into focus. Naming our desires before God is an honest prayer. God wants us to ask, seek, and knock about those desires! Honesty like that is the foundation of good discernment, a collaboration with God, a participation in the abundant life God wants to give us. “Even when you were dead,” writes Paul, “[Christ] brought you to life along with him.” God draws us close through our desires. Abraham “drew nearer” to God to pray centuries before Jesus taught his disciples. I think that’s what Jesus is getting at in this Gospel passage. He is teaching the disciples (us) how to pray, which is not really about getting what we want or getting it “right,” but about drawing closer in relationship to God who brings us to life.

So who is this God to whom Jesus teaches us to pray? A loving parent, a generous friend, a just king, and a compassionate teacher who is with us amid our struggles (Jesus himself). This God is not a trickster, a miser, or cruel. If we are sceptical that God could be that good to us, Jesus holds up a mirror to help us out. If we know how to be loving parents, generous friends, fair judges, and compassionate, encouraging teachers – and most of us have a pretty good idea of how to do those things, even if we don’t always do them perfectly – how much more does God know how to love us? Then Jesus teaches us to ask for what draws us closer to God: for forgiveness, for what we need, for the coming of the Kingdom. If we seek the coming of the Kingdom, we can begin to see it and participate in it. If we knock on the door of abundant life, it opens. Indeed, we may find we were holding it closed to begin with, and it opens easily once we let go of

the handle to knock.

Julie Leonard

Religious Education Leader

Wellbeing Leader