Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Although almost 2,000 years have gone by, St. Paul’s words to the Romans still ring true for many of us today…
“The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought…”
After many years of listening to Relevant Radio, journeying with RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) candidates, and talking with fellow parishioners, there always seem to be questions and concerns about the right way to pray. When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he responded with the simple, beautiful, intimate, heartfelt words of what we now call the Lord’s Prayer … the Our Father. One thing we can learn from the Our Father is that prayer is about dialogue, a conversation with God … our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.
A helpful way to think about prayer is to begin our conversation with God using simple words … please, thank you, I love you, I’m sorry.
… God, please show me the path you want me to follow today. Guide my words, my thoughts, and my actions.
… God, thank you for the many gifts of your creation. The beautiful sunset, the peaceful water, and the birds in the air.
… Jesus, I love you and I trust in you. May your love that dwells in me radiate to everyone who I encounter today.
… Jesus, I’m sorry for the times that I let you down today. Forgive me and help me to do better tomorrow.
God is always with us, He created us, He loves us, and He longs to grow in relationship with us. Jesus is our best friend. We grow closer to Him when we spend some quiet time with Him and when we converse with Him throughout our day. We greet Him when we wake up, we talk with Him as we move through the day, and share our thoughts with Him when we go to bed. This conversation is called prayer. When we struggle to find the right words, recall the words of St. Paul, “the Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.”
May God bless you and your family.