weak prayer
"Lord, teach us to pray." —Luke 11:1
One of the most important things that Jesus wants to teach us is that we are often weak in prayer. "The Spirit too helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought; but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in speech" (Rm 8:26). We must know our weaknesses in prayer: when we're only giving God lip-service (Mt 15:8), when our hearts are far from the Lord.
When we recognize our weakness, we can get help by repenting of our sins, turning to the Spirit, and asking others to intercede for us. The Lord does not expect us to be self-sufficient in prayer. He accepts us in our weakness, but we don't accept ourselves. We should be honest with God and admit we're not praying as we ought. We should humbly ask others to intercede for us because we aren't praying for ourselves rightly (Jas 4:3). Sometimes we should stop praying, leave our gift at the altar, and be reconciled (Mt 5:24).
Honesty is the best policy in prayer. When we admit we need help, that's when we get help. When we admit our weakness, prayer-power reaches perfection (2 Cor 12:9).
Prayer: "Out of the depths I cry to You, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice!" (Ps 130:1)
Promise: "Give us each day our daily bread." —Lk 11:3
Praise: St. Bruno devoted his life to deep prayer and solitude in order to be one with God.
Reference: (For help to admit our weakness, read the Bible daily. For encouragement, order any or all of these audio or video tapes: Ignorance of Scriptures is Ignorance of Christ, AV 82-1, V-82, How to Pray the Bible on audio AV 82-3 or on video V-82, How to Read the Bible on audio AV 46-3 or on video V-46, Principles of Bible Interpretation, audio AV 79-1, video V-79, Biblical Counseling on audio AV 13A-1, AV 13A-3, AV 13B-1 or video starting with V-13A.)
Rescript: †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 6, 2010
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