Here

is the amazing reality of prayer: It exists because God wants to have

a relationship with you. Prayer begins with God moving your heart to

seek his heart. We don’t initiate prayer; God does. This means that

our prayers are always responses to God’s promptings.

The

scene in today’s Bible reading portrays this fact beautifully. By

knocking on the door to our hearts, the Lord invites us to enjoy a

deep, lasting friendship with him. We would never have known that

Jesus was at our doorstep without his knock­ing at the door.

The

fact that prayer is a response to God’s initiatives is reassuring.

But this should also motivate us, when possible, to spend time

preparing to pray before actually doing it. It need not be long, but

some recognition of God’s grace, the ground of all prayer, is a

good way to begin. Before we speak, we should listen to the voice

that calls to us. Before knocking on God’s door, we should hear God

knocking on ours. When we prepare to pray, we gratefully acknowledge

that what we are about to do has originated in the heart of God.

So

before you pray, bow before its mystery. Savor the Lord’s grace and

love. Then open the door.