"For what you already have, thank! For what you don't have, pray!" This elementary principle was in fact behind Our Lord's words in today's Gospel, when his disciples asked him: "Lord, teach us to pray!" The disciples seemed to have already grasped the paramount importance of prayer, but at the same time they were just as convinced that they did not know 'how' to pray. That is why they addressed to the Lord a most vital request: "Teach us how to pray!"

If we are honest enough, I am sure we would recognise ourselves in the disciples when they asked the Lord to teach them how to pray. Jesus' reply was as simple as it was important, creating a model of a prayer that is complete and at the same time universal: "When you pray, you are to say: 'Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come.. ."

The rest we all know. We have repeated it ever so often, perhaps not always quite aware of what we were saying or asking for. But in reality all that can and must be said to the Father is contained in this prayer's seven requests, which we all know by heart. There is such a simplicity in them that even a child can learn them, and also such a depth that a whole life can be spent meditating on the meaning of each one of them. They speak to us, one after another, of what is essential for our existence: our daily bread, forgiveness of our sins, help in moments of temptation, deliverance from evil.

Jesus, on this occasion, substantiates his words about the efficacy of prayer by narrating two very brief stories. One about a man who hears a knock at his door by a hungry traveller in the dead of night and goes out of his way to help him, even at the cost of borrowing some bread from his neighbour.

The other instance is about a father who is asked by his own son for bread, or for an egg: will he give him a stone, or a scorpion? "If so," Jesus says, "is not your Father much more ready to give, from heaven, his gracious spirit to those who ask him?" Then we hear Our Lord's conclusion: "And I say the same to you: Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened to you!"

There is no doubt that the "Our Father" is the most beautiful prayer because it has been taught to us by Jesus himself, the simplest prayer because it is most direct, the most efficacious because it is the most humble. All this, however, does not exclude the fact that it would be a mistake to exclude the efficacy of other sorts of prayer.

There is, for example, the prayer which is generally referred to as 'meditative reading' out of a spiritual book, stopping to reflect on a passage that strikes us as particularly beautiful and inspiring. The importance of the Rosary, accompanied by the contemplation on the various mysteries of Our Lord and of the Blessed Virgin, seems to be fortunately gaining ground as a rich and beautiful kind of prayer. Its importance and efficacy should not be underestimated.

A higher and more valuable kind of prayer, however, is that of contemplation, which does not require words but is expressed by the heart and by the thoughts that derive from the sincere conviction that God is present to us and actually reading into our minds.

We have often heard or read that this kind of prayer is very difficult, or that it is reserved for only a few privileged ones. The truth is, however, that it is the simplest of all prayers. What it demands is a sincere faith in God, our loving Father and Saviour. With some effort to keep ourselves free from distractions, we will soon find ourselves basking in God's presence and enjoying the gift of His love.