Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (7: 7-12) in which Jesus says to his disciples ‘Ask and it will be given to you; search and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened’.

Fr Paul says the theme of today’s Gospel is ask and it will be given to you and seek, and you will find. A prayer that is a prayer of petition that is asking for something can seem to be slightly problematic theologically. We address our prayers to God just like a child would try to persuade a parent, by asking again and again and again for whatever it is that we want. But do we really think that God is going to change the course of the world, put the normal course of events into reverse just because I ask? What happens if we pray for fine weather at the beach while a farmer just outside of town is praying for rain for his farm? What about when two teams are about to play a game against one another, both of which pray for victor? Whose pray wins? Which one is answered? God cannot please both of us.

As the Gospel indicates, we might think well God knows everything, so God knows what I want. Is there any point in telling him about it?

These are just some of the reasons and examples that prayers of petition can be a bit of a problem theologically.

The reason we have prayers of petition is to tell God that we trust him, and trust that God will do whatever is best for us and for others. So, underlying our petition prayer is the same as what we pray for in the Our Father and that is – ‘thy will be done on earth as in heaven’.

We do pray that our prayer may be granted, but at the same time we pray that we may have the trust in God to accept whatever God sends us, granting that we may not know what is best for us in our particular circumstances.

Fr Paul notes today’s Gospel Lesson – Lent is a time to pray and trust in God.