"Lord, teach us to pray." (Lk:11:1) The prayer Our Lord teaches His disciples is very familiar to us, so much so that often we repeat it parrot-fashion.

"Thy Kingdom come" (Lk.11:2). Praying for the establishment of God's kingdom in our lives and the lives of others is not a mental request only. It is not just talking to Him and dictating to Him our wants and needs. Rather, it is experiencing God unceasingly in the inner stillness of our hearts. It is a constant yearning towards God, inviting His Spirit to guide us through life, and to allow ourselves to be touched by Him in the centre of our being.

The story of Jonah illustrates only too well the difficulties that lie in talking to God without listening to him, without opening oneself to His guidance and His will. We are told that "Jonah fell into a rage" when God asked him to do something he did not believe in. He believed that the God of tenderness and compassion was rich in graciousness only to the Israelites and not meant to be so for the pagan Ninevites, so he refused to rejoice over their repentance. He was frustrated and resentful and could not find rest in God.

God's treatment of him was meant to teach him a lesson. God unmasks his illusions about himself and his relationship to God.