Jesus Teaches Us How to Pray

The Lord Jesus spent much time in prayer, even keeping vigil at night with his Father, after a long day of preaching and healing.  His disciples longed to learn from him how to pray.  In the following excerpt from St. Bede’s commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke, we learn the deeper meaning of Christ’s words on prayer:

“ ‘He said to them: Which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him in the middle of the night, and should say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for my friend has come to me from the road, and I have nothing to set before him’ (Luke 11, 5-6).  The disciples had asked the Savior, and not only did he teach them the form of praying, but also the urgency and frequency of praying.  The ‘friend’ to whom we come in the middle of the night, is understood to be God.  We ought to pray urgently to him in the midst of tribulation for three ‘loaves of bread’ – that is, the knowledge of the Trinity, by which our sufferings in this present life are eased.  The ‘friend’ who comes in from the road, is our soul, which departs from us as many times as it wanders away ‘outside’, desiring worldly and temporal goods.  But it returns and wishes to be fed heavenly food when it comes back to itself and begins to meditate on heavenly and spiritual goods.  But it does not have the goods of its desire set before it: for the soul sighing for God after the darkness of this world, there is nothing further to think about, to say, or to learn attentively; all that is left is to contemplate the Holy Trinity with joy, and to engage in marveling at him more fully.

“ ‘And he said, Do not bother me now, for my door is closed and my children are with me in my room.  I cannot get up to give these to you’ (Luke 11, 7). The ‘door’ of the divine Friend is the understanding of the word, which the Apostle prayed would be opened to him so that he could speak on the mystery of Christ.  At a time of famine of the word – when understanding is not given – the door is ‘closed’.  Those who preach the word throughout the world are those who give out the ‘bread’ of the knowledge of the Gospel.  The ‘children’ of the head of the household rest in a hidden place with the Lord.  But through praying, the one desiring understanding from God receives it, even if he misses the one through whom this knowledge is taught. 

“ ‘And if he should persevere in knocking, I say to you that if he does not rise up and give these to him because he is his friend, still will he rise and give to him as much as he needs, because of his impertinence.  And I say to you: Seek, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find.  Knock, and it will be opened to you’ (Luke 11, 8-9).  If the friend is forced to get out of bed, and gives not out of friendship but out of annoyance, how much more does God give (in whom there is no annoyance), who grants most abundantly what is sought.”