Prayer

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
Matthew 6:7-15
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022426.cfm

God knows our needs before we ask; which tells me that prayer is more for us than it is for God. Prayer is a way to make us more like God, it helps make us more connected to God, to God’s ways and will. As God is merciful and forgiving, God wants us to likewise be merciful and forgiving. Prayer helps us grow that within us. Not in a give and take way but to permeate God in the world. If God is love, God wants us to share that love with others and increase that love in the world. God wants us to bring God’s providence to the world. God wants us to live in a way where we answer the prayers of others. By forgiving, we increase forgiveness in the world. By caring, we increase the care in the world. How we treat others puts a ripple out into the world. 

The Lord’s Prayer is both an ask of God and a calling for us. God is asking us to bring God’s kingdom to earth, to bring the daily bread together, to forgive others, to not lead others to temptation, and to help deliver others from evil. The prayer is not just a request to God but for each of us. It takes all of us. It’s not simply God, but it’s God acting through us. May we ever continue to increase that representation.