In today’s reflection, Fr Paul reads from the Gospel of Matthew (7: 7-12) where Jesus says to his disciples, “Ask and it shall be given to you, Seek and you shall find and Knock and the door shall be opened”.

Fr Paul reflects on how the Petitionary Prayer can often be a problem theologically as we address our prayers to God like a child who is trying to persuade their parents. But do we really think that God is going to change the course of the world, simply because of our prayers?

Fr Paul gives us the example of someone who might be praying for rain, whereas somebody else might be praying for no rain and God cannot please both sides.

We pray that our prayer may be granted, but at the same time we pray that we have the trust in God to accept whatever He sends us, granting that we might not know what’s best for us in the circumstances we find ourselves.

So for our Lenten journey today Fr Paul asks us to reflect on this question, ‘Do I trust God to answer my prayers, acknowledging that God knows what is best for me?’