Tobit 6:10-11; 7:1, 9-14; 8:4-9 / Mark 12:28-34
In the Bible there are many examples and samples of prayer.
One of which are the psalms, which are actually prayers for various kinds of needs and occasions.
Other than the psalms, there are also many other prayers in the Bible that may give us a model or a format of composing a prayer.
In today's 1st reading, we hear of the prayer of Tobias. He asked Sarah, his newly wed wife, to pray with him for protection for himself and their marriage as he began the prayer
Yet his prayer was not all about asking for protection for him and Sarah. In fact that petition was just one line of his prayer.
Tobias began by blessing and praising and acknowledging the Lord for His wonderful creation and for bringing man and woman together in marriage.
Essentially, his prayer was to thank God for His love and Tobias prayed that God's love will be poured out on him and Sarah so that they will be protected by His love in their marriage.
In the gospel, Jesus stated the two fundamental commandments - love for God and love for neighbour.
So even in our prayer, let us thank the Lord God for His love for us. And let us pray that we too will love God and may that love be expressed in our love for neighbour.