Lord, Teach Us To Pray

I remember the story of the disciples asking Jesus to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1-4). 

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’“

My earliest memories of prayer are of home at bedtime, being taught the well-known “Now I lay me down to sleep…” prayer.  My mom and grandmom would say it with me.  I said that prayer every night for a long time, and that was pretty much the full extent of my understanding of prayer.

As I got older, listening to Scripture readings at Mass, attending Catholic school, and later our religious education program at St. Joe’s, I learned that there are other ways to pray.  I think most of what I heard and learned came to a moment of revelation when I attended a Search retreat at Sparks Retreat House when I was in my late teens.  On that retreat we talked about prayers that we could say any time and any place when we realized that Jesus was particularly present, when we were in need of something, or when we were thankful and wanted to express that thanks directly to God.  It was after this retreat that I started listening more carefully to Scripture readings at Mass, and also when I began to understand that I was called to participate in ministry in the parish.  That moment is when I really committed to playing the guitar at church weekly in our “folk group” and when I started helping with our youth ministry program on a regular basis.

 Since then I have participated in all kinds of prayer forms -- charismatic, contemplation, meditation -- and have found them all to be helpful in my desire to further my relationship with my brother, Jesus.  My favorite, though, has to be a quiet contemplative prayer that is based on reading through the Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday.  I try to do this a few times a week to spend time with my God and to prepare myself to celebrate Mass on Sunday.

 But, there are still nights when my head hits the pillow and my mind travels back in time to that simple and basic prayer:  “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”  It’s a great prayer that still helps me stay connected with God.

 

Danny G