Luke pictures Jesus teaching us to pray. Jesus taught us to pray for workers for the harvest (Lk 10:2) and the outpouring of the Spirit (Lk 11:13; Acts 1:14). We should not only work like Martha, but listen like Mary who sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to His words (Lk 10:39). We can be certain that our prayers are answered (Lk 11:10-13). This should encourage us to pray, for there is "the necessity of praying always and not losing heart" (Lk 18:1).
On this feast of St. Luke, let's pray as never before. "First of all, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for all men, especially for kings and those in authority" (1 Tm 2:1-2). Prayer should be "first" in our life with the Lord.
Some demons cannot be driven out except by prayer and fasting (Mt 17:21, NAB). The holocaust of abortion is one of the most urgent calls to prayer in human history.
Pope John Paul II began his ministry as Pope with a call to prayer: "We feel not only the need but even a categorical imperative for great, intense, and growing prayer by all the Church. Only prayer can prevent all these great succeeding tasks and difficulties from becoming a source of crisis and make them instead the occasion and, as it were, the foundation for ever more mature achievements" (Redemptor Hominis, 22, emphasis added). Let's pray by Jesus' standards.
| PRAYER: | Jesus, may I unlearn any wrong attitudes toward prayer. Teach me to pray. |
| PROMISE: | "The Lord stood by my side and gave me strength, so that through me the preaching task might be completed and all the nations might hear the gospel." –2 Tm 4:17 |
| PRAISE: | St. Luke "carefully traced the whole sequence of events" in the life of Jesus and the growth of the Church (Lk 1:3). Praise You, Jesus, for the life of Luke. |
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