Sometimes people will confess that they “didn’t get their prayers in” on certain occasions. When you think of “saying your prayers,” what come to mind? How to you pray? Probably a lot of people would naturally think of prayers they memorized as children, like the Our Father from today’s gospel. As good as these memorized prayers are, there’s a lot more to prayer this. Prayer is ultimately about a relationship. God wants a relationship with us and prayer is really just talking to God.
“Teach us to pray,” the disciple asks. This is a great thing for all of us to ask. In today’s homily, I offer insight into five different kinds of prayer.
A – Adoration
T – Thanksgiving
C– Contrition
I – Intercession
P – Petition
Taking the first letter of each, you can use the following phrase to help remember: “As The Christian, I Pray.”
We are probably most familiar with the last two. That’s where we ask God for things, either for others or for ourselves. While this isn’t the only kind of prayer, it’s not bad that we would ask God for what we think we need. In the gospel, Jesus makes it clear that he actually wants this. Yet, sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers exactly the way we would like. Seemingly “unanswered prayers” are some of the most difficult things to understand.
I end the homily today by giving some advice in dealing with these times when God’s answer isn’t what we would want. God really is our father who loves us and wants to give us what is good. But prayer is about a relationship. Yes, God wants to answer our prayers, but more than that, he wants us. You want Jesus to teach you to pray? Start talking more with God. Tell him what’s on your heart. Speak to him as a friend and father. Have a relationship with him. That’s prayer.