Such a Gift! Prayer is not magic. We cannot expect to receive whatever we want from God just because we ask. If this were so, many of us would be praying to win the lottery! No, praying to win the lottery will not make us rich. However praying for what we need and what is good for us opens us to God’s presence, helps us gain God’s perspective on our lives, challenges us to think broader than our immediate needs. Prayer includes a discernment of what God wants for us, not simply what we want for ourselves. In our Gospel, Jesus instills confidence in his disciples that they will receive from God that for which they pray. He teaches us to pray for daily needs: the food we need to live, the forgiveness we need to grow in our relationships, the protection we need to remain faithful. Because of what we have received, we are certain that God will give even more to those who ask – a share in the plenitude of God’s very life. Such a gift! The kind of prayer Jesus teaches is the prayer coming from our heart! It is a prayer of communion, a prayer of attentiveness to divine Presence, a prayer seeking God’s will. Praying brings us to divine encounter and to listening to God’s will for us. Prayer is the communion of Person with person. It is the utterance of spirit to Spirit. Of life to Life.