What to ask for?

What to ask for?

 Regarding how to pray, St. Isaac the Syrian writes: “Don't be thoughtless in your petitions, in order not to offend God by your foolishness. But rather be wise, to become worthy of the greatest gifts. Ask for a treasure from Him Who is a stranger to stinginess and you will receive a treasure from Him in accordance with the reasonableness of your request. Solomon asked for wisdom and together with it he received an earthly kingdom because he made a wise request before the Great King. Elisseus asked for a twofold portion of grace of the Holy Spirit and his request was not refused. To ask for trifles from the King insults his dignity.”

        The greatest teacher of prayer is our Savior. Prayer accompanies all the important events of His earthly life. The Lord prayed, receiving baptism from John (Luke 3:21). He spent the whole night praying before He chose the Apostles (Luke 6:12). He prayed during the Transfiguration (Luke 22:41). He prayed on the Cross. The very last word before His death was a prayer (Luke 23:46).

        Being impressed by the inspiring image of the praying Savior, one of His disciples turned to Him with the request: “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). And in answer to this Jesus Christ gave the prayer, short in form, but rich in content, that wonderful, incomparable prayer which to this day unifies the whole Christian world, the “Our Father,” the Lord's Prayer.

        This prayer teaches us about what and in what order to pray. Having turned to God, “Our Father,” we acknowledge ourselves to be His children, and in relation to each other, brothers, and, therefore, we pray not only for ourselves but for all people. With the petition “Hallowed be Thy name,” we ask that His name might be holy for all people, that everyone might glorify the name of God by their words and deeds. “Thy Kingdom come.” The kingdom of God begins within the believer, when the grace of God, having filled him, cleanses and transfigures his inner world. Simultaneously, grace unites everyone, people and angels, into one great spiritual family called the Kingdom of God or the Church. For the good to be spread among people, one should ask: “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven;” that is, that everything in the world should be done according to the all-good, all-wise will of God, and that people should as diligently fulfill the will of God on the earth as the angels do it in heaven.

            “Give us this day our daily bread;” give us today all that is necessary for our daily sustenance. What will happen to us tomorrow we don't know; we need only our “daily bread,” i.e., every day that which is necessary to sustain our existence. “And forgive us our debts, as we for

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by: fr.cyril Amer