The Lord’s Prayer begins by focusing on God, His nature, and His work in the world. This teaches us that our prayers should focus first on God, through praising and thanking Him. Only then, do we turn to our requests. “Give us this day our daily bread” is a petition for God to provider for us both materially (e.g. food, shelter, clothing, etc.) and spiritually (e.g. the nourishment for our souls we receive from the bread of life, the Eucharist). God wants to provide for our needs. We can have assurance that when we ask, He will answer. Even if we don’t get what we want, the answer will be better than what we asked for, because God is a good gift giver. In fact, the ultimate and best gift He gives us is Himself, for we hear that the Father will “give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” Therefore, we should persist in petitioning God. And we should strive to conform our requests to the sill of God. Finally, our prayers should include confessing our sins to the Lord and asking for forgiveness. If we have committed a serious, mortal sin we need to go to Confession, too. But daily prayer should include acknowledging our sins and asking for forgiveness, along with seeking to forgive those who have sinned against us.
Adults: Have your most recent prayers been prayers of praise, petition, or sorrow? Which kind of prayer do you need to practice more often?
Children: What are you most thankful for right now?
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