Pray your own way

Some prayers are very private. When you say your prayers before you go to sleep at night, they're just for you and God to hear. But when you go to church, you pray out loud with everyone.

Jesus probably prayed with His friends all the time: when they ate together; when they were scared; when they went off by themselves just to talk to God. But in this week's Gospel (John 17:20-26), we hear a little bit of Jesus' private prayers.

"Father," Jesus said, "I'm praying that my followers will be as close to you as I am, that we'll all be one. I wish that they will be in heaven with me, and that they'll love each other as much as you love me."

Jesus' way of praying was to talk to God the Father like a friend. Since they were really the same person, that wasn't hard! Jesus hoped everyone who followed Him would get as close to God the Father as He was þ as close as being the same person.

Sometimes, prayers are like wishes. You might pray to stop fighting with a kid at school, or that you find the Beanie Baby you lost. You're praying, but you're also wishing things turn out your way.

In His prayers, Jesus made a wish, too: He knew He was going back to heaven soon, so He wished that all His followers ended up in heaven with Him. Like you pray for a fight to end, He prayed that everyone would learn to love each other.

There are lots of ways to pray: alone, with other people, in your head or out loud. You can pray by singing, thanking God or saying an "Our Father." You can even yell at God when you're mad.

What Jesus taught us was that it doesn't matter how you pray þ just that you do! Jesus prayed that we'd all get closer to God the Father; and the best way to do that is by talking to Him!

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, teach me to pray whatever way I want to, but to do it every day! Amen.

(05-21-98) [[In-content Ad]]