Jesus taught his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Jesus is trying to teach us the importance of prayer, and is offering more detail on how to bring our petitions to His Father. More importantly, He is telling us that our prayers, when brought to His Father in the correct way, are very effective.
When we pray, first we have to lift up our hearts and minds to God because we sincerely love Him. So we might say something like…
Dear Lord, you are kind and merciful, a God of compassion. I come to you in need. Please hear my prayer. We then need to give God thanks. So we might say something like… Lord, I thank you for the many blessing that you have given me and the graces that you have bestowed upon me.
We then need to present to God our needs. So we ask Him for exactly what it is that we need, we make our request with a truly humble heart. We might say something like…Dear Lord, I find myself in a moment of desperate need, I need to feed my family and get to work tomorrow morning, if you can please hear and grant my request for the money to do those things, I would be humbly grateful.
Then we always close by letting God know that we will graciously accept His will being done, meaning we will accept the manner in which He answers our prayer. Knowing that His answer may not be what we want, but what God wants for us. So we might say something like this…Dear Lord, you know what is best for me, give me the grace and understanding to accept your will. Amen.
Pray with a sincere, faithful heart. Pray with a humble, thankful heart. Pray until God answers you. God’s delays are not God’s denials. When he does answer your prayer, give thanks that His will has been done in your life.
Remembering…”how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.”
