My child, you do not need great learning in order to please me. You need only to love me sincerely and to speak to me with trust. Come before me as you would approach someone who knows you completely and receives you with affection. You do not need elaborate words or carefully prepared thoughts. Tell me simply what is in your heart, because I am here and I am listening.
Begin with the people you love. Tell me their names and speak to me about what they need. Bring me the members of your family, your friends, and those who have asked for your prayers. Ask me to strengthen the weak, console those who are suffering, and guide those who are uncertain about the path ahead. Do not be afraid to ask much of me. I am pleased when you forget yourself for a time and pray generously for others.
Speak to me also about the poor whom you would like to help, the sick whose suffering has moved you, and those who have wandered far from me. Perhaps there is someone whose faith has grown cold or whose life has become disordered. Perhaps a friendship has been damaged and you long for reconciliation. Place each person in my hands and ask for whatever would truly lead him or her towards the good. Your prayer may seem small, but no sincere prayer offered in love is ever lost.
You may also bring me those whom you find difficult. Tell me about the person who has offended you, misunderstood you, or treated you without consideration. Do not pretend that the hurt does not matter. Speak honestly about what happened and how it affected you. Then ask me to free your heart from resentment and to show you how to forgive. Forgiveness does not always remove the pain at once, nor does it require you to deny an injustice, but it does mean refusing to nourish hatred or to desire harm for the one who has wounded you.
After praying for others, tell me about your own needs. You may make a long list if that helps you. Speak to me about the needs of your soul and the weaknesses that repeatedly discourage you. Perhaps you are self-indulgent, proud, easily hurt, selfish, fearful, or inclined to avoid effort. Do not be ashamed to admit these things. I already know them, but I want you to bring them into the light so that I can help you. Many saints once struggled with the same faults. They did not become holy by pretending to be strong, but by returning to me and allowing grace to work in them little by little.
Ask me for help with the needs of your body and mind as well. You may pray for health, strength, memory, success in your work, or relief from anxiety. These concerns are not beneath my attention. I care about the whole of your life, and I know what will assist your growth in holiness. I do not always give exactly what you request or at the time you expect, but no honest petition is received with indifference. Trust that I know what is good for you, even when my answer takes a form you did not anticipate.
Tell me about your plans. Speak to me about your work, your vocation, your hopes, and the decisions you are trying to make. Perhaps you are considering a new undertaking or trying to do something generous for your family. Perhaps you are uncertain whether a plan comes from love, ambition, fear, or mere restlessness. Bring it all to me. Prayer does not remove the need to think carefully or seek advice, but it helps you place your plans within a larger purpose. Ask whether what you intend will draw you closer to me and enable you to serve others more faithfully.
Do not forget to tell me about your apostolic desires. Who among your friends needs encouragement? Who may be searching for meaning without knowing where to look? Is there someone you could invite to pray, to return to the sacraments, or simply to speak honestly about the faith? You do not have to force conversations or imagine that everything depends upon you. Ask me to prepare hearts and to give you the right words when the opportunity comes. Your task is to love, to pray, and to remain available.
Confide your failures to me as well. Tell me where your efforts have gone wrong and where you have become discouraged. Perhaps you began with enthusiasm and then lost perseverance. Perhaps you handled a situation badly or allowed pride to interfere with a good intention. I can help you understand the cause of the failure and show you how to begin again. Do not spend too much time defending yourself or blaming circumstances. Learn what you can, ask forgiveness where necessary, and return to your duties with greater humility.
You may also speak about the people whose cooperation you need. Perhaps you are waiting for someone to take an interest in your work or to support a good initiative. Ask me to place the right people in your path, but do not become anxious when help does not arrive in the way you expected. I can open doors, redirect plans, and use circumstances that appear unpromising. What matters is that you remain faithful to what is presently within your responsibility.
Tell me about your annoyances. Nothing is too small to bring to me. Speak about the interruption that spoiled your plans, the criticism that wounded your pride, or the person whose manner left you feeling dismissed. Small irritations often reveal attachments and sensitivities that remain hidden during easier moments. I do not ask you to deny these reactions, but to bring them to me before they harden into bitterness. Ask for patience and for the ability to see the situation more clearly.
If you are afraid, tell me what you fear. Sometimes the cause is obvious, while at other times a vague anxiety settles over the soul without a clear explanation. Do not be troubled because you cannot describe it perfectly. I see what you cannot see, and I understand what you cannot yet put into words. Trust in my providence. I am not absent from the circumstances that frighten you, and I will not abandon you.
Perhaps there are friends who seem less attentive than they once were. You may feel forgotten or wonder whether you have unknowingly offended them. Pray for them instead of surrendering immediately to suspicion. There may be reasons for their distance that have little to do with you. Ask me to restore the friendship if it is good for both of you, and be willing to take a simple step towards reconciliation when that seems appropriate. At the same time, accept that some relationships change and that not every friendship is meant to remain the same throughout life.
Bring me your joys too. Prayer should not consist only of needs, fears, and failures. Tell me what has consoled you since yesterday. Perhaps you received an unexpected visit, heard encouraging news, completed a difficult task, or discovered that you were stronger than you had thought. Perhaps someone showed affection in a small but meaningful way. These gifts are not accidents outside my providence. Receive them with gratitude and allow them to deepen your trust.
Gratitude changes the way we see our lives. When we rarely give thanks, we begin to notice only what is lacking or painful. The good that surrounds us becomes invisible because we have grown accustomed to it. Thank me for particular things rather than remaining at the level of a general expression. Recall the person who helped you, the difficulty that passed, or the grace that enabled you to persevere. Gratitude does not deny suffering, but it prevents suffering from becoming the whole story.
Now speak to me about the resolutions you need to make. I know the depths of your heart, so there is no reason to hide behind vague intentions. Is there an occasion of sin you need to avoid? Is there something you read, watch, or pursue that disturbs your imagination and weakens your relationship with me? Is there a friendship that continually draws you away from what is good? Ask for the courage to act rather than merely regretting the consequences afterward.
Perhaps the resolution required today is simpler. You may need to approach someone who has annoyed you and treat that person with kindness. You may need to apologize, complete an overdue duty, or stop returning in your thoughts to an old grievance. Do not attempt to reform your whole life in a single moment. Choose the concrete act of fidelity that is now before you, and ask for the grace to carry it out.
When you leave this time of prayer, return to your daily work with peace. Be honest, patient, and charitable. Try to remain aware that I accompany you into the ordinary duties of the day. Love my Mother and ask her to help you keep your heart close to mine. You do not need to preserve every feeling you experienced during prayer. It is enough to carry one clear resolution and to continue your work with renewed love.
Come back tomorrow and speak to me again. Bring me the same concerns if they still weigh upon you, and do not be discouraged by repetition. Friendship grows through faithful conversation, not through constant novelty. Each visit gives me another opportunity to strengthen you, correct you, and draw you more deeply into my love.
Before leaving, ask forgiveness for your sins. Recall with sorrow the offences of your youth and those of later years, the sins you remember and those you have forgotten. Acknowledge the faults of the soul and the body, the sins committed deliberately, and those that arose from negligence or weakness. Do not allow the memory of sin to lead you into despair. Let it lead you instead to the mercy of the one who gave his life for you.
My Jesus, I am sorry for every sin by which I have wounded your loving Heart. Through your Passion, free me from the bonds of evil and restore me to your friendship. Forgive what I have been and help me become what you are calling me to be. I place my past, my present, and my future in your hands. Amen.
