Less than a week in and Lent is already feeling very Lent-ish. In the past few days, I’ve been asked to pray for several devastating situations. There’s the friend whose marriage is on the brink of divorce, another friend facing a financial crisis, the mom who is struggling to care for both her aging parents and her own young children, and another who is worried about the health of her unborn child.
My heart is heavy. Is there hope? Will God provide?
I don’t have the answers and many times I don’t know how to pray. Are there even words to express the pain, the suffering, and the anguish of some of life’s greatest trials?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives the advice we need to hear. Our prayers don’t have to belong, we don’t need to babble and go on and on. He tells us, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
After reminding us of this, Jesus goes on to teach us exactly how to talk to the Father.
“This is how you are to pray:
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.”
During times of struggle and trial, when you just don’t have the words, cling to the Our Father and trust that God will hear your prayers.
Becky Roach is a member of the Communications staff at Fuzati, a strategic Catholic marketing company that seeks to place marketing and innovation at the service of the Church. In 2018, Fuzati launch Little Saint Adventures, a revolutionary app for kids, parents, churches and schools that teaches children the Catholic faith.
