by: The Workshop Team, July 27, 2025
Today's Gospel is from Luke 11:1-13. Read it here https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2011%3A1-13&version=NIV
The Christ told us a formula for praying and how to get what we pray for. Btw, in my understanding, prayer is asking and sending out our message, while meditation is listening and receiving a response.
Let us limit the formula to praying for material needs in this reflection because the example given in the Gospel is asking for bread or fish. There is nothing shameful in praying for material needs (which is different from material "wants").
I will summarize Jesus' teachings on how to pray based on the Gospel in bullets so it is in small chewable chunks:
𝗔. 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮
This is the form or technique in praying. A disciple asked Christ to teach them how to pray. But to complement today's Gospel reading, I will relate it to the text in Matthew 6:5-15, which is more detailed at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%206%3A5-15&version=NIV
1. When we pray, don't do it in public. This is basic, we should not get distracted. Focus is important. (Jesus is prolly referring to our personal prayer time, and not to communal praying).
2. Go to your "room". The bedroom is something private where we do the most private things. I will bet that corresponds to the Heart, the centre of our being. Sometimes, our brain can lie about a person that we no longer wish to see, but deep in our heart, we still love that person. So going into our room, is focusing deep into our being - our center- the Heart, where Love is.
3. Close the "door". When we go into our room, we close the door to avoid distractions. This obviously represents our senses, particularly the eyes. We close our eyes when we pray. Shutting out the other senses can be learned too. But don't do this kind of prayer when we are driving or crossing the street! 😃
4. Pray to your Father who is unseen. Christ affirms to us that it is only the Father who can grant our prayers because he created all things in this universe. And He is Spirit that is unseen. Even the entire Lord's prayer begins with an address to the Father in Heaven, as Jesus taught us.
5. There should be solid faith (that is even if there is no vain repetitions, like babbling pagans do, Christ is challenging us to have faith that our prayers are heard.)
6. There should be persistence (seek, ask, and knock with shameless audacity... meaning we could keep on praying until our request is granted)
7. There should be a great need, not just a mere "want". "Need" was constantly repeated in the Gospel. Many people pray a whole bunch from their bucket list. I suggest that we focus only on the greatest need. Then get on to the next once it is granted.
8. The Lord's prayer mentioned in this Gospel is the most powerful Christian prayer because it was said and taught by the Christ himself. The content showed us it should contain A.C.T.S:
𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 to the Father (1st stanza)
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 or asking for forgiveness (Forgive us our trespasses...)
𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 is praying for our needs (bread, mercy/forgiveness, protection, healing, etc.)
𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴, while this is not implicitly expressed in the prayer, the last part (For yours is the kingdom...) implies a doxology of praise and thanksgiving to end the prayer. And it is rude to address the Creator without some form of thanksgiving after stating a request. A medieval mystic and theologian, Meister Eckhart, famously declared that, "If the only prayer you ever say is 'thank you', that is enough."
𝗕. 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘂𝗹𝗮
These are principles on what make prayers work or why prayers don't work or why we don't receive what we pray for.
9. We have to pray in Jesus' name as promised in John 14:14. There should be a source of power in our prayer that will invoke God's power (sometimes they call it "Dunamis"). The Father's name in the Old Testament was so powerful but it is one of the greatest secret and it is forbidden to use it in vain. But Jesus gave us his name, and we can use it with faith and conviction as a power source.
Personally when I pray, I use first traditional prayers than can invoke power, such as the Lord's prayer (because it was uttered by Christ himself), some follow it up by the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. Then I do an invocation to the Holy Spirit, then proceed to my personal worded prayer using A.C.T.S. in Jesus' name.
10. In reality, before praying for our petitions, we have to ask for protection from evil in Jesus' name. A prayer for help to Archangel Michael can also help. It was even emphasized in the last part of the Lord's prayer: "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil". Deliver us from evil is a form of deliverance to free us from the influence of evil spirits or fallen angels, and at the same time, protect us from them. Not so many people know about this. Our prayers can be hijacked or be intercepted by the forces of darkness. This is especially true for those people who try to serve God. We think that they are privileged and can always get what they want when they pray. In reality, they are in a perpetual spiritual battle because they are being constantly attacked so they can fail on their mission to serve God. This is especially true when they are requesting for personal needs. When their prayers remain unanswered, self-doubt begins and it can sometimes shatter their faith.
11. The key and important secret formula for answered prayers is mentioned in 1 John 3:22, which is a re-phrased version of John 14:14-15. This is the powerful "Secret", and not the "law of attraction" mentioned in prosperity gospel literature (which is oversimplified to denote "good vibes" only).
Many petitions that we pray for using the technical formula remained unanswered (and we resent God for it) but it is because of our failure to do this operative formula:
"𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎." (1 John 3:22)
God's commandments could include the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), the 2 Greatest commandments (Matthew 22:36-40), and the Beatitudes which gave the details in Luke 6:20-49 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206%3A%2020%20-%2049&version=NIV
We don't get something for nothing is a rule in the universe. God can also give us Grace through his Mercy but that is his prerogative as to what to give us. But to get anything that we personally asked for, we have to have our spiritual bank account full. When we give, we shall receive. The entire law of spiritual economy is described in the Beatitudes. It is summarized too in Galatians 6:7-9, "A man reaps what he sows... Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%206%3A7-9&version=NIV
Even in the Lord's prayer itself, it reminded us of this law, "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." This is also taught in most of the world's spiritual traditions as the golden rule. So even before a need arise and before we pray for it, we have to make sure to earn spiritual credits by saving them in our spiritual bank account. May it be bread, money, love, happiness, good relationship, health, or success; we give or share them to others so that in times of need, we also get the spiritual entitlement to receive them.
Praise be to the Lord Christ!
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Credit for the art work:
Coaley, John Morgan (1889). The Lord's prayer in ink and watercolor. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Lord's_prayer_LCCN2004662429.jpg
#prayers #HolySpirit #charismatic #gospel #winnipeg