CCC 2608 From the Sermon on the Mount onwards, Jesus insists on conversion of heart: reconciliation with one’s brother before presenting an offering on the altar, love of enemies, and prayer for persecutors, prayer to the Father in secret, not heaping up empty phrases, prayerful forgiveness from the depths of the heart, purity of heart, and seeking the Kingdom before all else.1 This filial conversion is entirely directed to the Father.
CCC 2609 Once committed to conversion, the heart learns to pray in faith. Faith is a filial adherence to God beyond what we feel and understand. It is possible because the beloved Son gives us access to the Father. He can ask us to “seek” and to “knock,” since he himself is the door and the way.2
CCC 2610 Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will.”3 Such is the power of prayer and of faith that does not doubt: “all things are possible to him who believes.”4 Jesus is as saddened by the “lack of faith” of his own neighbors and the “little faith” of his own disciples5 as he is struck with admiration at the great faith of the Roman centurion and the Canaanite woman.6
1 Cf. Mt 5:23-24, 44-45; 6:7,14-15, 21, 25, 33.
2 Cf. Mt 7:7-11,13-14.
3 Mk 11:24.
4 Mk 9:23; cf. Mt 21:22.
5 Cf. Mk 6:6; Mt 8:26.
6 Cf. Mt 8:10; 15:28.