“These things I command you, that you love one another.”

Prayer often consists of asking God for what we need. But in today's Gospel passage, Jesus reminds us that God already knows what we need. He knows better than we do. So one effective approach to prayer is to ask God to reveal to us what we truly need. The answer we get might surprise us.

For example, I came across this illustration from an unknown author...

A woman was at work when she received a phone call saying that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication for her child. But when she returned to her car she found that the keys were still in the ignition and the door was locked.

In a panic, she called her home and told the baby sitter what had happened and that she didn't know what to do. The baby sitter said that her daughter was getting worse. She suggested, "You might find a coat hanger and use that to open the door."

It seemed like such a far-fetched idea, but the woman was desperate and looked about. To her surprise, she found a rusty coat hanger that had been left on the ground, possibly by others who at some time or other had locked their keys in their car. Then she looked at the hanger and said, "I don't know how to use this." So she bowed her head and asked God to send her some help.

Within a few minutes, an old rusty car pulled up, driven by a dirty, greasy, bearded man, who wore an old biker skull rag on his head.

The woman thought, "This is what you sent to help me, Lord?" But she was desperate, so she was also very thankful.

The man got out of his car, saw her tears, and asked if he could help.

She said, "Yes, my daughter is very sick. I stopped to get her some medication and I locked my keys in my car. I must get home to her. Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car?"

He said, "Sure," walked over to the car and, in less than one minute, had it open.

She hugged the man and through her tears, she said, "Thank you so much! You are a very nice man."

The man replied, "Lady, I am not a nice man. I just got out of prison yesterday. I was in prison for car theft and have only been out less than 24 hours."

The woman hugged the man again and with sobbing tears cried out loud, "Oh, thank you, God! You knew just what I needed. You even sent a professional."