I have a friend. He was frustrated about how things were going in his family. He was angry at his brother. And I said, “well, my dear, have you prayed over it?” And he said, “I have not.” And I asked, “why?” He said, “Because, if I pray, I know what God is going to say, and I do not want to do it. I am not ready for reconciliation now”. Søren Kierkegaard once said: “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.” – It aligns us with the will of God, gives us the wisdom we need, and reduces stress, strengthens resilience, and fosters inner peace. Above all, it keeps us in friendship with God.
The Lord’s Prayer Tells Us Who We Are
For some people, prayer is about asking God for things. When we are doing fine, we often forget about God. Prayer is however a relationship. The opening two words of the ‘Our Father’ tell us everything about who we are, who Jesus is and what his life and ministry means for us.
With the Lord’s prayer, Jesus is not merely giving us a formula of prayer that is easy to memorize and recite. Rather, he is inviting us to enter into an intimate relationship with God. He is saying in effect: I call God my Father, and from now on you will say: our Father in heaven, holy be your name, your Kingdom come. We say ‘Our Father’ because Jesus shares his sonship with us. God is our father who we can haggle with. Understanding this influences the way we pray and our approach to life challenges.
We see this in the first reading. Because of Abraham’s hospitality to his visitors and his obedience to God’s will, God entrusted him with divine secrets. Abraham had to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah especially for Lot and his family, because God and Abraham have a relationship where they depend on each other, where they care about each other, where they want to be closer together. This is the meaning of the story. That God loves Abraham and Abraham, loves God, and their lives are lived together.
If you go to Israel today and go to Jerusalem, there is a sign on one of its beautiful old gates there and it is carved in Arabic: “To Abraham, the friend of God.” That is what prayer is supposed to be for us. Through our baptism, we are invited into that same friendship, where prayer is not just about petition — but participation in divine life.
The Lord’s Prayer is Commitment
The ‘Our Father’ does not only tell us who we are – it calls us to action. It teaches us that every petition carries with it a responsibility. When we pray, we commit ourselves: to live as children of God, to desire what God desires, to ask for the needs of all, not just our own, to forgive as we are forgiven, to resist evil in all its forms: the devil, the world, and our own disordered desires. In embracing these responsibilities, we participate in the advancement of God’s Kingdom. Through regular prayer, we gain a deeper understanding of our role in God’s plan. Thus, Prayer is not telling God what to do but positioning ourselves to hear what He wants to do in and through us.
May we be humble like the disciples to ask the Lord to teach us how to pray. May we, like Abraham, find time to intercede for people who rely on our prayers.
[Readings: Genesis 18:20-32; Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13]
