As I shared in last week’s Bulletin, we cannot grow in a personal relationship with God without prayer. The foundation for any real relationship with God is prayer. The evangelists, especially St. Luke, tell us that Jesus frequently went off to pray. Prayer was the foundation of the spiritual journey of Jesus. (We sometimes fail to realize that Jesus, the man, was confronted with the same need to have a relationship with God and, like us, had to develop this relationship through prayer). He spoke frequently about his relationship to God. The disciples of Jesus found his way of relating to God and of praying very attractive. They wanted to pray in the same way, so that they would eventually have the same type of relationship. What was unique about Jesus’ form of prayer was that it was quite personal. He addressed God as Abba, or Father. The prayer of His people and family was much more formal. They would not have thought of God in such a very personal way. “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. He modeled for His disciples the necessity of prayer. When he had finished, one of his disciples asked Him, Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. Jesus also modeled for His followers that they could pray anywhere, not just in the synagogue.

Those early Christians who believed in Jesus believed in reaching out to God in prayer. St. Paul encouraged his friends in Thessalonica to pray always. In his letter to the Romans, Paul pointed out that people do not always know how to pray and may need help in praying. He wrote that the help they needed was always at hand.

One of the special contributions Christianity has made to human history is the understanding that prayer can be a conversation with a personal God. Christianity has also promoted the understanding that humans can have a personal relationship with God, which is, in truth, a radical change in man’s concept of God.
God as Father is truly a wondrous revelation!