Isaiah 55:10-11 / Matthew 6:7-15
For a Christian, prayer is essential, and the season of Lent emphasises this.
Because prayer is the expression of the relationship with God, and hence prayer is essential and not optional.
Jesus taught us the prayer of the "Our Father" or the Lord's prayer.
And in the gospel, Jesus tells us not use too many words and He gave us the model of prayer.
But prayer must also have the effect of changing us.
Prayer must also lead us to forgive others just as we ask God for forgiveness.
The 1st reading tells us that just as the rain and snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the world that goes forth from God's mouth does not return to God empty, without carrying out God's will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.
Similarly, the words of our prayer must also bear fruit in us.
Our prayer changes us and bears fruit of forgiveness.
Let us be firm and faithful in prayer, and especially when we pray the "Our Father" we should change to become like God's children.