Scripture Scribbles: July 27, 2025
the Gospel
Luke 11:1-13
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test."
And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,'
and he says in reply from within,
'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.'
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
the scribble
Prayer. What a loaded word.
What does it even mean? I spent years wondering that myself.
I avoided it. Felt like a chore.
Or a burden.
Or something I had to master.
A script I needed to memorize.
A list of intentions I needed to rehearse.
Or even a test I knew I would fail. So why even try?
Maybe you can relate. I wonder if the disciple in today’s reading, the one who asks Him to teach them to pray, was struggling with some of these same things.
But then he saw the Lord pray.
And something awakened in his heart.
He knew it wasn’t just lines. Or a test. Or a script.
He knew, from watching Jesus in prayer, that it was deep and intimate.
Real and moving. Something that changes you from the inside out.
A real, living relationship with the One who loves you most.
I’ve since learned that prayer is a state of being.
It is not something to be mastered, but rather something to abide in.
Something to receive. Something to be.
What changed it all for me was the grace of God and a St. Teresa of Avila quote:
“For prayer is nothing else than being on terms of friendship with God.”
Spending time with the Lord is prayer. Letting Him into your heart, your mind, your fears, your struggles, your hopes, your dreams, your hurts, your fears, your life. That’s prayer.
And when we do that, it changes things.
It changes us. And slowly, one by one, it changes the world.
I never understood that either. Once I came back to the Church, heart on fire, I still felt overwhelmed by all the doing that needed to happen. All the things I should be doing in order to be doing “enough.” And man, it was exhausting to think about.
Until the Lord stopped me in my tracks one day and told me: It’s not about doing, it’s about receiving. I was striving, not abiding.
When we allow the Lord into our heart, by spending a little time–even just five minutes–each day with Him, He slowly—quietly, but surely—changes us to be more like Him; more like our truest selves; who we were created to be.
And when we are changed, we start to light a fire in those around us. I like to picture it like turning on even a tiny light in a pitch dark room. People’s eyes start to adjust. Your light allows them to start to find their way, too. Just like the witness of Jesus praying did for the disciple in today’s Gospel.
It wasn’t until tonight, in writing this Scribble, that I fully connected the fact that Jesus teaching us to pray feeds right into “ask and you shall receive, seek and you will find.” But of course it does.
Because Jesus is inviting us into intimacy with Him.
He doesn’t just want our words, He wants our hearts. He wants us to come to Him and share with Him what’s going on in our lives. When we do this, when we reach out to Him and then open our hearts to receive His love, presence, peace, plans, He makes us new.
“How much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
My invitation to you today, friend, is to spend a little time with Him.
Share with Him what’s on your heart.
And know, even if you can’t feel it or see it, you’ll be shining a little brighter today because of it.
Over time, the Holy Spirit will begin to work in your heart, your mind, your life.
And then out into your relationships.
And from there, the community.
And then the world.
What a difference a little time spent each day in simple prayer makes.
I know this because it happened to me. It has completely changed my life.
Join me today: Spend just five minutes in prayer with the Lord.
Knock on that door.
Share what’s on your heart.
And then listen and open your hands to receive the good gifts He has for you.
Today’s devotion was written by Rachel Smith
