Mental Prayer Meditation Helps
Presence of God.
Grace I Ask: To regard prayer as Christ did.
The Idea: It can be said that Jesus was first and above all a man of prayer. He began His public life with 40 days of prayer in the desert. Often the Gospels tell of our Lord, after an exhausting day, slipping off to pray, or rising early in the morning to go out into the desert to pray. He prayed in advance whenever He faced an important decision. He prayed the whole night before He chose His twelve Apostles; He prayed at the tomb before He raised Lazarus from the dead; He prayed on the eve of His passion, and especially on the cross. The Apostles so often saw Him nt prayer that finally they requested, "Lord, teach us to pray."
My Personal Application: Christ was setting me an example. He wants me to be, like Himself, a man of prayer. He wants the happiness, strength, and understanding that come from prayer to be mine. If I am to bring Christ to others, I must first have the knowledge of Him and His teachings that comes only through prayer. If I am to persevere as a Catholic, I must have the close friendship with God that only prayer can bring. I cannot avoid sin nor grow in virtue and Christ-likeness without prayer. Prayer must be the power of my life.
I Speak to Christ: Lord, give me your esteem for prayer. Help me to persevere in it and thus come to real knowledge and love of you. Lord, teach me to pray!
Thought for Today: I must be a man of prayer.
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Adapted from Mental Prayer, Challenge to the Lay Apostle
by The Queen's Work,(© 1958)
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