Do you have a lot to learn about prayer? Do you want to learn to pray more deeply? How much time and energy are you willing to spend in learning to pray better? If we love the Lord, we should want to learn to pray better, for prayer is communicating with the One Who is the Love of our lives. However, many Christians don't pray very much and neglect to take any practical means to learn to pray. This usually indicates a lack of love for the Lord.
Love is the basis of prayer. Where there is true love, we always find prayer and the desire to learn to pray better. Consequently, before asking Jesus to teach us to pray, we should ask Him to teach us to love. When we open our hearts to receive His love, we will pray. Love always prays.
We speak and pray from the abundance of our hearts (see Lk 6:45). So, prayer-problems are heart-problems, which are love-problems. To begin to learn to pray, ask the Sacred Heart of Jesus together with the Father to stir into flame the fire of the Spirit in your heart (2 Tm 1:6-7). The Spirit will then pour out love in your heart (Rm 5:5), and this love will overflow into prayer.
| PRAYER: | Jesus, teach me to love to pray. |
| PROMISE: | "Praise the Lord, all you nations; glorify Him, all you peoples!" –Ps 117:1 |
| PRAISE: | By praying for those toward whom she felt most unloving, Sarah learned to both pray and love better. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College