How do you pray when you pray to God? It is so easy to be selfish when we talk to God. We might ask Him to help us do good on a test, even though we didn't study nearly enough for it. Or maybe we ask Him to give us a boyfriend or girlfriend, or even a first kiss like in the movie Superstar. But when we're asking for these things, we aren't treating God like the Heavenly Father that He is, rather, we are talking to God as if He is Santa Claus, asking for favor after favor. While I think it is okay to ask God for the occasional favor, there are much better, more selfless things that we can ask God for.

First, we need to humble ourselves and recognize that God's will for us will result in the greatest amount of happiness for everyone. It may come with challenges and suffering, but in the long run the plan of our Father will grant us the most joy and will result in an eternity with Him in heaven, as He desires for us all to be joined with Him in heaven. With that being said, why would we waste our time asking God to make our own plans work? We are human and simply do not have the knowledge and the understanding that God has of what is best for us, so when we pray to God we should ask Him to help us follow the path that He has so beautifully laid out before us.

Following this path, however, will be difficult. We might not see it right away, or we might be faced with challenges that distract us and send us in the opposite direction, so we should ask God for selfless gifts that will aid us in following His path.

We can ask God for courage. God's plan for us will mean going against many ideologies that today's society supports. Staying true to the teachings provided by the Gospels will often mean going against the teachings provided by society, and that will take courage.

We can ask God for strength and endurance. Being the humans that we are, we will fall to sin time and time again, but what matters is that we have the strength to get back up and the endurance to continue to strive for goodness.

We can ask God for patience. We might not know where God's path is leading us, or we might be faced with incredibly tough times. Either way it can be tempting to give up and decide to go our own ways. However, if we do this we could potentially miss out on something amazing that God was leading us to. To stay true to His path and reach the awesomeness He has planned for us, we will most likely need the gift of patience.

Lastly, we can ask God for the grace to love. We are called to love God above all others, and to love our neighbor as we desire to be loved. This is obviously easier said than done, but it is possibly the most important thing that we can ask God for, so when I pray I begin and end by asking Him for the grace to love.

All in all, it is easy to lose sight of God's plan and to become selfish in our prayers. Next time we pray, before we ask God for something, perhaps we should ask ourselves this: am I asking for this gift to aid me in staying on God's path, or to aid me in making my own path?