1ST TUESDAY OF LENT, MARCH 11
Isaiah 55:10-11
Matthew 6:7-15
Spring is a time of renewal.
The sun shines warmer. Snow
melts. Rains fall. Days lengthen. Bulbs sprout.
Trees bud. Birds return. The winter’s rest results in renewed
fertility. Lent is our renewal, and a
well-celebrated Lent results in the renewed fertility of our faith lives. The three pillars of Lent: prayer, fasting,
and almsgiving rejuvenate our hearts.
Let’s talk about that first pillar for a moment. In today’s Gospel, Jesus instructs his
disciples – that’s us – how to pray.
What can we learn from Jesus’ instructions? Well, first of all, prayer is important! Jesus wouldn’t have taken the time to teach
us to pray if prayer was not important.
Second, God knows our needs before we pray so we don’t need to draw out
our prayers or make a show of it to get God’s attention. We already have God’s full attention because
we are in a loving relationship with God.
And that brings up a third point, prayer is intimate. We call God our Father because our
relationship with the Lord of the whole universe is like the relationship a
child has with a parent. The fact is, the
more we pray, the more we deepen our relationship with God.
So how’s your prayer life?
How often do you pray? How
intimate are your prayers? Is all well,
or has your prayer life been nipped by the winter snows? Lent is a season for special dedication to
prayer so today is a good time to take stock of your prayer life and discern
where you go from here.
- By Lisa Lenard Chiles
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