We need to remember about prayer is that we do get what is needed, not what is simply wanted! What do we really need? We need only to reflect on the prayer Jesus has taught us to pray. Everything we need is mentioned there. It's a prayer without any trimmings. With God we go straight to the point. God is not interested in unnecessary details but only on the essentials in our life. 'Ask and it shall be given!' Just as we would not refuse a friend what he/she needs, so too God would not refuse us. After all God knows all what we need even before we ask Him. In fact God is only too willing and generous in hospitality, far more generous than any friend or parent we know.

Often it is we who don't know what we really need! What is most needed is the Spirit. We ask for the Spirit of God for others and for ourselves: for that is the deepest gift that will transform all our lives and the world. When we begin to reflect on what true prayer is we realise we have to change our mindset, to begin to see ourselves as God sees us.