Jesus prayed constantly. He prayed before going out to proclaim the Gospel, to work miracles, and to exorcise demons. He prayed while doing His public ministry. He prayed again afterward. Jesus also prayed late into the night.
Like the disciples of St. John the Baptist asked St. John to show them how to pray, Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus the Son of God how to pray. Jesus taught His disciples to pray the “Our Father” prayer, which we pray regularly.
Jesus also taught His disciples, “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Luke 11:9-11, NABRE).
To help me remember what Jesus taught about how to pray, I made an acronym: A.S.K.
“A” is for “Ask.” We should ask Jesus for help, for forgiveness, and mercy, regularly and frequently in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and for guidance. If you think about it for a moment, we are not only asking for things, but ultimately we are asking for God Himself – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – the Most Blessed Trinity. Since God is greater than all of creation, nothing else in creation is better than God. We should ask Him for the grace to perfect our communion with the Blessed Trinity.
“S” is for “Seek.” We go through life seeking happiness, success, comfort, fun, stuff, money, etc. Sometimes we look for happiness in the wrong places. By the grace of God, we need to realize more fully and faithfully that we hunger and thirst for God, who is the only one who satisfies us. St. Augustine wrote that our hearts are restless until they rest in God. So as we grow as disciples of Jesus, we should always seek to follow Jesus, seek to do His will, not ours, and seek to be more Christ-like.
“K” is for “Knock.” As disciples of Jesus, we should be persistent and tenacious in our prayer. We need to commit to pray every day. We pray thanking God, glorifying Him, worshipping Him, and asking for His help. For the baptized as God’s adopted sons through His only Son, God loves us and wants everything good for us and will give us all the good and holy things according to His will for the asking.
Of course, God will give us His grace to not only resist temptation, but also the grace to be holy, faithful, charitable, selfless, and courageous. God gives us the grace to become saints, we need only to keep knocking on “heaven’s door” for the grace that God already desires to shower on us, if we only “A.S.K.”
By Father Eric Tolentino, Pastor of Annunciation BVM and St. John Fisher parishes, Catasauqua.
