This month I’ve been building on Scripture, then the sacraments, and now I want to turn to prayer itself, not just doing it, but paying attention to what I’m actually doing when I kneel down and start talking.

There’s a moment in Luke’s Gospel that’s been sitting with me. The disciples watch Jesus pray, and when he finishes, one of them doesn’t ask him to explain a parable or settle an argument. He just says, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1)

That request gets me every time. These were grown men who had been praying their whole lives. Prayer wasn’t foreign to them. And still, watching Jesus pray, something in them recognized they didn’t actually know how, not the way he did.

I think that’s the honest starting point for me too. I’ve said plenty of prayers over the years. I’m just not sure how many of them were prayer.

So this week I’m not trying to add another spiritual habit to my list. I just want to ask the same question that disciple asked, and mean it.

What would it look like to stop assuming I already know how to pray, and just ask to be taught?

Today’s Bible Study

Paul writes that “we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26) That verse used to bother me, like it meant my prayers weren’t good enough. Now I read it as relief. The not knowing isn’t a failure on my part, it’s exactly where the Spirit meets me. I don’t have to arrive at prayer with the right words already figured out. I just have to show up and let him do the part I can’t.

Recommended Reading

If you’re looking for somewhere to start, Fr. Jacques Philippe’s Time for God is the best short guide I know on actually building a life of mental prayer, not just wanting one.