Like anyone who has prayed for any length of time, my practice of prayer has evolved over the years.
I began with very immature praying and moved to telling God what I thought needed to happen, and am now using the Lord’s Prayer to place whatever deep desires on my heart into God’s hands.
Today’s lectionary reading ends with the Lord’s Prayer. Let’s see how we can use it in our prayers.
Lectionary Reading: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031125.cfm.
Reading 1 – Isaiah 55:10-11
During a certain period of my prayer life, I was influenced by books advocating for specific, measurable prayer requests. The intent was to discern God’s responses clearly.
While this approach can be beneficial, it occasionally leads to presenting God with desires that may not align with His divine will.
The prophet Isaiah illustrates God’s superior knowledge, urging us to prioritize reliance on His will over our own personal prayer agendas.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:8-11)
Glenn Clark was a powerful man of prayer in the last century. He recommended that we gather our deepest desires into our hearts, bring them to God in a brief statement, and then get lost in God’s presence.
I think this is a good way to incorporate Isaiah’s truths into our prayer life.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 34:4-5, 6-7, 16-17, 18-19
You are possibly like me and have ways of praying that you learned in your early walk with the Lord that you no longer use.
The beauty of prayer is that God looks more at the heart than he does at what comes out of our mouths. We can be assured that when our hearts are right, no matter what we say or how we think, God is going to respond to our prayers.
This poor soul cried and was heard by the Lord
and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the Lord encamps
around those who fear him and delivers them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him. (Psalm 34:6-8)
Verse Before the Gospel – Matthew 4:4b
“One does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
Gospel – Matthew 6:7-15
Once we have brought our burdens into our hearts, we can trust them to the Lord by using the Lord’s Prayer.
It features the things that, as we learned in Isaiah, are higher than our thoughts and greater than our imagination. We trust them to the One who loves the world and is active in human history to bring it to the fullness of His will.
“Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13)
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed God’s renewal of the covenant He made with Abraham to his son Isaac in Genesis 26.
Real Voices 