JESUS, BE OUR PRAYER

Tuesday in the 1st Week of Lent
Mt 6:7-15

Lord Jesus, teach us to pray. Pray with us. Pray in us. Pray through us.

Our. God is ours, not only mine, not only yours, not only his, not only hers, and not only theirs.

Forgive me, God, for making You mine only.

Father. He is not only God. He is also Father to us. We are His children.

Forgive us, Father, for not living as You children.

In heaven. Because He dwells in heaven and we are His children, heaven is also our true home. We strive to be good not to gain heaven, but because heaven is already ours. We do good deeds not for the heavenly prize, but because our price is heavenly.

Forgive us, Father, when we try to “buy” heaven from You.

Holy be Your name. Because He is our Father and we are His children, He has given us His name. He did not only call us by name; He gave us His name.

Forgive us, Father, because by our sins we bring disgrace to Your Holy name.

Your kingdom come. His Kingdom is already in our midst, but it has yet to come in its fullness. By loving as Jesus loves, we make His Kingdom present. We make His Kingdom come.

Forgive us, Father, we delay the coming of Your Kingdom when we do not love.

Your will be done on earth as in heaven. The Kingdom of God is the reign of God in our lives. The more we obedient to Him, the more His Kingdom come.

Forgive us, Father, we fail to do Your will.

Give us today our daily bread. We ask for our needs for today only. Tomorrow, we ask from Him again. We do the asking daily. We do not pray for our wants but for our needs. He takes care of us each day.

Forgive us, Father, when we are gluttons and when we hoard.

And forgive us our sins. The Father loves us more than we know. What do we give Him in return? Our sins.

Forgive us, Father, for our indifference to Your love.

As we forgive those who sinned against us. We often either overlook or water down this requirement. We will be forgiven only inasmuch as we forgive others. We have no right to expect forgiveness from the Father if we do not forgive our brothers and sisters.

Forgive us, Father, for our one-sided view on forgiveness.

Do not bring us to the test. The Father does not allow us to be tested beyond our ability to endure. Every trial can be a blessing, too, if it brings out the best in us and makes us more and more like Jesus. Gold is tested in fire. A diamond begins as dirt of the earth. Silver shines when polished by rubbing.

Forgive us, Father, when we run away from our crosses.

But deliver us from evil. We do not want to be tempted yet we do not stay away from the tempter. We do not wish evil for our selves, but do we also not bring evil to others?

Forgive us, Father, for not seeing evil as it is.

Amen. So be it. Yes, it will be!

Forgive us, Father, when we pray and yet do not believe.

Lord Jesus, teach us to pray. Pray with us. Pray in us. Pray through us. Be our prayer.