Today’s readings give us two things to reflect on: God’s generosity and the power of prayer. In the first reading, we see Abraham asking God to spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah; he acknowledges God’s greatness and his own lowly position, but then he proceeds to ask God for what he wants. He repeatedly asked, imploring God to not get angry with his persistence…and God heard his prayer and answered. The psalm also reminds us that God hears the pleading of those who seek His help. In the second reading, Paul tells us that God, in his generosity, has removed our debt and forgiven our sins: Jesus paid that debt for us. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches His disciples how to pray by giving them the prayer we know as the “Our Father.” He goes on to speak of being persistent in prayer, and to speak of the Father’s generosity in giving the Holy Spirit to those who ask. From another author, there are four types of prayer. His acronym is ACTS: Adoration, Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication. If you look at today’s readings, you’ll see examples of all four types. Ideally, our prayers should include all four, and the more we pray the better we’ll be at it (practice makes perfect). Sometimes, however, the best we can do is something like “Lord, help me”. We can rest assured that God hears our prayers, God knows what we really need, and God will provide just as Jesus promised.