So last Sunday, we talked about the importance of wasting time with God… of investing dedicated time in prayer, listening attentively to the Lord just like Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus, who chose the “better part.”

But perhaps you’re still not so sure how to go about doing that. 

Prayer, after all, can be a little intimidating. It might seem very overwhelming and mysterious… like you have no idea where to even start.

And thankfully, that’s where our gospel this Sunday comes in. Because the disciples come right up to Jesus after he is done praying, and ask him:

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

…Before saying anything else in this homily today, I’d like us all to take a moment, direct our hearts to the Lord, and ask Him that same exact thing.

So repeat after me:

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

Amen!!!!

This is so honest and humble of those disciples to say to Jesus. Because think about it: 

Most of these disciples were already faithful, committed, life-long Jews… They knew how to recite the psalms according to the liturgical year. They knew the Shemah prayer. They quote-unquote “knew how to pray” all the right things for the right circumstances in the right ways…

And yet, here they are saying: “Lord, teach us…Teach us how to pray.”

And that’s really where most of us find ourselves I think. A LOT of us here today are probably cradle-Catholics. We grew up in the Church. From little on up, we went to Mass every single Sunday. We learned the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be. Perhaps you were fortunate enough to grow up in a household that prayed a daily Rosary. We ALL probably know the BLESS US O LORD prayer before meals!
    (BTW… Do you pray before meals in public?)

In other words: We all kind of “know” how to pray, right?

And yet…     We don’t! — We really really don’t.

And that’s actually good news. Because whether you are a life-long cradle Catholic, or someone just checking out the faith for the very first time… we are all in the same boat.

None of us really know how to pray.

And this is not a controversial statement.  …It is actually straight out of the Catechism, which is quoting St. Paul’s letter to the Romans:

“Only when we humbly acknowledge that ‘we do not know how to pray as we ought’ are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer.”

Boom.

That’s it.

That’s the first principle of prayer that we learn from our Gospel passage today:

1. That prayer is a gift. 

It’s not something we can do on our own or figure out by way of some special new-age technique. You can’t find a DIY YouTube guru that can tell you how to become a master of Christian prayer in five easy steps…

Sure there are certain practices and recommendations that you can find in the writings of the Saints… but really, it always begins, first and foremost, with the humble admission: “I don’t know what I am doing. I don’t know how to pray.”

So, let’s all declare that together — repeat after me:

“Lord, I don’t know how to pray.”

AMEN.

Isn’t that sorta liberating?

A couple months back, I was giving a series of talks on “Hearing God’s Voice,” and after each session we had almost like a little “prayer workshop” where we put into practice what we learned that night… and after one of the sessions one guy came up to me afterward and said:

“You know I’ve been a Catholic my whole life. And nobody has ever actually taught me how to pray.”

Man. That’s so brutally honest… That’s so real!

I think what he was experiencing was the Holy Spirit stirring up that gift of prayer in him. I wasn’t giving this guy any special new technique…

He had simply placed himself in the position to ask the Lord in faith for help. To turn to Jesus and say with those disciples:

“Lord, teach me how to pray.”

And that brings us to the second principle of prayer that we learn in today’s Gospel passage:

2. Ask and you shall receive!

It really is that simple. Anytime you sit down to “waste” some time with the Lord, begin with something like this:

“Lord, I don’t know how to pray. But I ask that you come and help me. Come Holy Spirit… help me to pray!”

Ask, and you will receive!

Seek, and you WILL find.

Knock, and the door WILL be opened.

Keep showing up. Keep asking. No matter what. Even if you don’t feel or experience anything in your time of prayer: Just keep asking, and you WILL receive whatever you need most from the Lord. Be CONSISTENT… be PERSISTENT…

And that leads us into our third principle of prayer we learn in today’s gospel:

3. You have permission to BOTHER God!

This is REALLY important for us to get through our thick skulls.

People will always say, ‘I don’t want to bother God. He has wayyy more important things to take care of than whatever problems I have…’

But — as Dr. Mary Healy said once — “If the gospels make anything indisputably clear, it is that God WANTS to be bothered…”

Just look at Abraham in our first reading today from the book of Genesis — At first, Abraham was sort of afraid that he might be bothering God in asking for mercy upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He says things like this:

“See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am but dust and ashes! …Let not my Lord grow impatient if I go on…. Since I’ve dared thus far to speak to you Lord…Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time: What if there are only forty, thirty, twenty, only TEN righteous people???”

Now, to be fair, there’s something super humble and honest about Abraham’s precautions, and we should commend him for the risk he takes. 

But what this whole episode actually shows us is that God is NOT BOTHERED AT ALL. Time and time again, the Lord responds with tenderness and calm: “Of course Abraham! Of course I will spare the city for the sake of the 50, the 45, the 40… even if there are only 10 righteous people, YES of course!!!!” God is revealing Himself to be like that friend, who is more than willing to get up in the middle of the night to lend us 3 loaves of bread. In fact, it’s almost as if God is coaxing Abraham to keep on going — to keep asking for MORE and more mercy… to keep on BOTHERING Him! 

I wonder what would have happened if Abraham bothered God just a little more…? What if there are only 5 righteous people, Lord? What if there are NO RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE in that city at all, Lord? Won’t you please spare them?

That is after all what Christ does on the Cross isn’t it?

All had fallen short of the glory of God… none were righteous, all had fallen away. And yet God chose to spare the world anyways!

But getting back to the Genesis story, what Abraham begins to realize in this amazing exchange is that the Father is far more merciful than he ever could have imagined. That God really truly IS NOT bothered at all by our prayers. That the Lord actually ENJOYS being asked for good things!

And that brings us to the FOURTH and final principle of prayer that our readings this weekend make quite clear:

4. The Lord WANTS to give us good things

I think sometimes we might be sort of afraid to pray because we’re worried about what God might give us …That He just has lots and lots of crosses and burdens and sufferings spring-loaded for anyone who would dare ask for things!

But as Jesus says in the Gospel today: 

“What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

So ask Him! Go and bother the Lord! Pester Him! Talk to Him before making ANY decisions, big or small! Ask Him for guidance and grace! For humility and love! He loves you! He’s a good Father. He’s Our Father, who art in heaven. And hallowed is His name. He has VERY good things in store for all of us. Blessings… not a curse. Salvation and forgiveness… not condemnation. Life and truth… not death and confusion. 

You don’t need any special training or expertise to pray well. You just have to ask with a humble heart, and you will receive. Just come to Jesus and say:

“Lord, please teach me how to pray.”

And He will.