Page 86 - First Steps 2023

1. Learn to ask.
In the New Testament, Talking and Listening
the word used most often in Imagine being in a restaurant and
conjunction with “prayer” is watching three couples having a meal
“ask.” There’s lots of asking together. The first couple brought two lap-
happening throughout the Gos- tops and they’re each watching streaming
videos as they silently work through their
pels, including Jesus making meal. There’s zero communication.
a request of God the Father The second couple appears to be

just prior to Jesus’ arrest in the married, and though the wife is talking,
Garden of Gethsemane: the husband isn’t. She’s rattling off the
news of the day and updating him on
“Going a little farther, he what needs to be done around the house.
fell with his face to the He’s not answering, but she doesn’t really
ground and prayed, ‘My expect him to.
The third couple is enjoying a vibrant
Father, if it is possible, conversation. There’s give and take,
may this cup be taken thoughtful silences, and shared laughter.
from me. Yet not as I will, They’re eating, but clearly they’re enjoying
but as you will’” the dialogue even more than the meal.
(Matthew 26:39). A question for you and your discipler:
Which couple’s communication most
So it’s okay to come to reminds you of your conversations with
God with requests. But when God? Why—and what, if any, changes
would you like to see?
you do, come to God like Jesus
came: humbly.

• Pray with humility
Jesus would have preferred to not face the cross, but he knew the
plan. And he submitted to the will of God the Father. That’s humility.
When we come to God with requests, it’s a reminder that God is God
and we…aren’t. We need help. We need guidance. Our requests confirm
our dependence on God.

• Pray like a child
Jesus encouraged his disciples to be childlike in their faith, and chil-
dren have no problem asking for things. They ask frequently. Repeatedly.

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