Lord, Teach Us To Pray

3 Replies

Prayer gives us eyes to see and strength to keep going on the journey of life. On this Tuesday of the 1st week of Lent, Jesus teaches us to pray. On the Mount of the Beatitudes, in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus teaches his disciples– and us– to pray. “Our Father….” (Matthew 5, 7-15) Readings here

We pray as Jesus prays. We approach the One whom Jesus knows intimately as his Father. We pray God’s kingdom come, God’s will be done, on earth, in us, as it is in heaven. We ask  for our daily bread, for forgiveness and for strength to live without falling away. 

The Lord’s Prayer is our basic Christian prayer. We learn it by heart. It appears everywhere in the church’s life. We treasure it.

Like so many things we treasure, we can take the Lord’s Prayer for granted,. Lent is a time to make it a treasure again.

When Moses approached God on Mount Sinai, a voice said: “Do not come near; put off your shoes from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Jesus invites us to approach as children the One who gives us everything. Let us pray reverently as we come into God’s presence.

Can we look for graces to pray this Lent? Listen to Isaiah, our 1st reading.


Thus says the Lord: just as from the heavens the rain and son come down and do not return there till they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth. It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.


3 thoughts on “Lord, Teach Us To Pray”

  1. Gloria's avatarGloria

    How Do I Pray To You?

    How do I pray to You?

    You, whose sun makes the shadow I see
    across the golden brown cornfield
    look like the shadow of your strong arm?

    You, whose artistry I see in the vulture
    that circles gracefully on wind currents
    that make the huge pines sway?

    You, who blow the wind chimes into song
    and the windmill into a whirling blend
    of red and white, red and white, red and white?

    You, who created all the beauty
    I see through my kitchen window,
    a miniature of all your beautiful Creation?

    How do I pray to You?
    With gratitude!

    Gloria Ziemienski
    February 2008

    Like

  2. Gloria's avatarGloria

    I AM WHO AM

    “I AM WHO AM.
    Take off your shoes
    for you stand on holy ground,”
    said the voice from the burning bush.
    And Moses knew it was God.

    Autumn’s chill turns the Euonymus
    glorious, blazing red.
    Like Moses, I know who speaks to me
    as I stand on holy ground
    before the glorious red
    Burning Bush.

    Gloria Ziemienski
    October 2007

    Like

Leave a comment