The disciples were asking, in today’s Gospel reading, the same question that I have had - ‘when I pray, what am I supposed to say?’  The Lord’s answer is simple and to the point.  Give thanks to God, the blessings of food, forgiveness for ourselves and others.  Even still, sometimes I just don’t know what to say.

Thankfully, there are many prayers that we have memorized as kids to fall upon.  First, the Lord’s prayer from our reading, as well as many children’s prayers from Sunday school, classes, books, liturgy’s, etc.  These are all good to use as long as we can personalize the conversation between you and the Lord.

I suppose the balance between respectfully glorifying God and having an honest conversation is the stumbling point.  We must remember that our Creator meant for us to be in conversation like we do with our loving parents.  We can take comfort that the Lord ‘knows what you need before you ask him.’ (Matthew 6:8)