In this petition we recognize that our human strength is not enough for the trials and temptations that we will face this side of heaven. Temptations are sure to come, Jesus tells us. They are common to humanity, and the Father intends to use them to strengthen us, His children, in living for His will as we patiently surrender to His transforming power at work in us. We can pray: “Lord, lead me not into temptation; give me the power of your Spirit to resist temptations and make me holy.”
We also recognize in this petition that ultimately the author of all the evils we are prone to is the devil (more on the devil in chapter 8). With humility, we recognize that our Father has absolute authority and that we His children can approach Him for His protection to overcome the enemy. We can have confidence that the Father hears us when we pray like this because the Lord Jesus prayed for us with these words, “I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil one” (Jn 17:15).
As we began our prayer time remembering who God is and who we are, we end our time with humility and praise to God our Father, who is Lord of heaven and earth and empowers us to live fully as His children!
Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen!
As you end your time of prayer, decide how this time with God will influence the rest of your day. What has the Lord said to you? Where do you need God the most? “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk 11:28). We resolve to be doers of the Word and not just hearers. Our union with God through personal prayer transforms our hearts and our minds and should also transform our actions.
One last thought about prayer: Don’t lose sight of how wonderful the gift of prayer is! Every day you have the opportunity to fall out of bed, shake off the grogginess of sleep, and spend time with God. You can talk to each other. You can tell Him your troubles. You can receive comfort and counsel from Him. You can grow in wisdom and strength and learn how to walk with Christ. He will transform you as you come to be with Him in an ongoing way! What a great gift He offers us!
Practical Application to Become “Doers of the Word”
Begin planning your personal prayer time—time, location, etc. Write down your intentions and talk to the Lord, asking Him for grace to establish a daily personal prayer time as a normal ongoing part of your life.
Chapter 2
Hearing God in Scripture
Fr. Erik Arnold
When I was a kid, we had a great big leather-bound family Bible on a bookshelf in our living room. It was so big you could hardly miss it—but we seldom took it down and opened it. Our family wasn’t that different from many other Catholic families. We were told that the Bible was important, but it really wasn’t part of our lives. The Bible was there, but it stayed on the shelf.
This chapter is about taking the Bible off the shelf and making it part of your life. Scripture is the Word of God. It has real power. It can bring us freedom and joy and wisdom. God reveals Himself through the words of Scripture, and by reading the Bible prayerfully we can hear God speak directly to us. It’s no wonder reading Scripture is a central part of personal prayer.
God’s Love Letter
The Bible is entirely unique. It looks like other books—words printed on paper, bound in leather or paper-covered boards, sold in stores or online. But the Bible is a book apart. The other books in the religion section of the bookstore contain other people’s ideas about God. The Bible is God’s own Word spoken about Himself. The Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of the Bible to write what God wanted to communicate. It’s a priceless gift to us, given out of love. This is what the Catechism has to say about it:
In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength, for she welcomes it not as a human word, but as what it really is: the word of God. In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven comes lovingly to meet his children, and talks with them. (CCC 104)
This is the wonder and beauty of Scripture: it flows from the Father’s deep desire to open His heart to us so that we can know Him. Scripture flows from God’s love. It’s one of the greatest of gifts that the Father showers on us. It’s no exaggeration to say that Scripture is God’s love letter to us.
Because Scripture is God’s Word to us, it is alive with the power of God. No human words have the power that Scripture has. Think about a time that words have moved you: maybe it was a novel you read as a child, a letter from someone you love, a play that you saw on stage. These words are human expressions of love or grief or joy. But the words of Scripture carry the power of God Himself.
The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb 4:12)
These are not generic words. They are personal—aimed at you, at me, and at every person who reads them. They are truly personal. In Scripture you can hear God’s Word for you. You can read a passage and hear what God wants you to hear at that moment. Your spouse or your best friend can read the same verse and hear what they need to hear. That’s the power of the Word of God.
When we read Scripture, we take our place in the crowd that Luke describes: “While the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, [Jesus] was standing by the lake of Gennesaret” (Lk 5:1). The people didn’t come to Jesus to hear generic, abstract truths. Each of them came to hear Jesus talk to them personally. They recognized that Jesus had something to say to them. We read Scripture for the same reason: God has something to say to me, something that I need to hear right now, something for me personally, in the circumstances I’m in, with the needs that I have, the challenges I face, the opportunities I have. There are things that need to be removed from my life. Other things need to be added. We need strength and encouragement. Our eyes need to be opened to see where God is at work. The Lord will talk to us about these things as we read Scripture.
God’s Word has Power
Let me share with you a couple of examples. One of my favorite stories about the power of God’s Word comes from the life of St. Augustine, one of the greatest of the early Fathers of the Church.
You’re probably familiar with the basic story of Augustine’s life. He was a brilliant young man who restlessly searched for love and truth as he made a name for himself as a teacher and writer in the Roman Empire. His mother, Monica, was a fervent Christian, but he resisted her attempts to bring him to faith in Christ. For years he carried on a personal and intellectual struggle. Finally, Augustine became convinced of the truth of the Gospel. He knew that he should accept baptism and become a Christian, but he hesitated at the brink of conversion, embroiled in a spiritual struggle with the sins he knew he had to leave behind:
I was held back by mere trifles, the most paltry inanities, all my old attachments. They plucked at my garment of flesh and whispered, “Are you going to dismiss us? From this moment we shall never be with you again, for ever and ever. From this moment you will never again be allowed to do this thing or that, for evermore.”
They no longer barred my way, blatantly contradictory, but their mutterings seemed to reach me from behind, as though they were stealthily plucking at my back, trying to make me turn my head when I wanted to go forward. Yet, in my state of indecision, they kept me from tearing myself away, from shaking myself free of them and leaping across the barrier to the other side, where you were calling me. Habit was too strong for me when it asked, “Do you think you can live without these things?” (Confessions VIII, 11)
In spiritual agony, Augustine cried out to the Lord. How long? How long is it to be? He describes