Prayer is not simply intercession. There are many forms of prayer and ways to pray, but unless we know who we are and our place before an almighty living God, we make will make no headway in our spiritual journey.
Prayer is a means by which we enter into the presence of the Lord our God with complete trust and reverence. For the greater part it is about listening to His Word and will for us. Filled with His immense love and peace for us, our hearts cry out in thanksgiving and praise as we honour and worship Him. We entrust our needs and the needs of others by laying them at the feet of Jesus, praying only that His will be done in all of them. There are greater depths, insights and wonders to prayer, as we will discover onwards in our journey of faith.
Let us be mindful that it is the heart of Jesus that we desire each time we enter into prayer. And that we should seek to pray often together as One with and in Him. Amen
First reading
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Pray for everyone to God, who wants everyone to be saved
My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone – petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving – and especially for kings and others in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet. To do this is right, and will please God our saviour: he wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and mankind, himself a man, Christ Jesus, who sacrificed himself as a ransom for them all. He is the evidence of this, sent at the appointed time, and I have been named a herald and apostle of it and – I am telling the truth and no lie – a teacher of the faith and the truth to the pagans.
In every place, then, I want the men to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.
Gospel
Luke 7:1-10
Give the word, and my servant will be healed
When Jesus had come to the end of all he wanted the people to hear, he went into Capernaum. A centurion there had a servant, a favourite of his, who was sick and near death. Having heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders to him to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus they pleaded earnestly with him. ‘He deserves this of you’ they said ‘because he is friendly towards our people; in fact, he is the one who built the synagogue.’ So Jesus went with them, and was not very far from the house when the centurion sent word to him by some friends: ‘Sir,’ he said ‘do not put yourself to trouble; because I am not worthy to have you under my roof; and for this same reason I did not presume to come to you myself; but give the word and let my servant be cured. For I am under authority myself, and have soldiers under me; and I say to one man: Go, and he goes; to another: Come here, and he comes; to my servant: Do this, and he does it.’ When Jesus heard these words he was astonished at him and, turning round, said to the crowd following him, ‘I tell you, not even in Israel have I found faith like this.’ And when the messengers got back to the house they found the servant in perfect health.
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