A prayer before learning

Master of the World, I am opening a book now. Before I read the first word, I ask You to open my heart and my mind as well.

You know how easily I scatter. I read a line and am already thinking about something else, the phone pulls at me, thoughts about the day jump in. Let me sit now for a few whole minutes with what is in front of me, without running away.

Help me truly understand, and not only think that I understood. If something is hard for me, give me patience to read it again and ask, and not skip it to move ahead quickly. And if I disagree with what is written, give me the humility to check whether perhaps I am the one who has not yet gone deep enough.

And do not let the learning remain knowledge alone. I do not want to gather more information and be proud of it. I want something of what I learn now to change the way I speak, the way I behave at home, the way I look at myself. Let me find in these words one point that I can take with me today and act on.

And let me rejoice in the learning, like someone who has found a treasure, and not like someone fulfilling an obligation.

And at the end of the learning, let me sit quietly for a moment and speak with You in my own words about what I learned: what touched me, what is hard for me, what I want to fulfill. So the learning will become prayer, and the prayer will light up the learning in return.