The first half of Lent (up to the Fourth Sunday) gives us a programme of conversion for our lives. The three elements presented by Jesus on Ash Wednesday - prayer, almsgiving and fasting - are considered individually in most of the Masses of the first part of the Lenten season. Today the focus is on prayer as one of the three essential legs of the "tripod" of holiness. In the Gospel, Jesus tells us to "ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find". God knows our needs, and He has proven in sending His only Son that He loves us more than we love ourselves. Why then is it necessary to "ask"? As St Augustine said so beautifully, we do not ask to remind God of our needs, but to deepen our own trust and dependence on Him. The asking moves our heart to love and trust more. God, who cares so much for us, has made us free. He does not force His love on anyone. When we bring our petitions to Him, in a spirit of humble acceptance of what He knows is best for us, we show the trust of a child in loving concern of her mother or father.

In this light, Esther's prayer in the first reading is a beautiful model for our own prayer of petition. The Jews were about to be destroyed. Esther's only hope, as their intercessor, is to turn to God and proclaim that He alone can save His people. Where in your life is God your only hope? Tell Him, as Jesus teaches us to do, that you depend totally on Him.