Reflection on petitionary prayer confronts us eventually with the dark mystery of pain and suffering. We are called upon to affirm the presence and care of a loving Father at the heart of a tear-soaked world. Constant meditation on this awesome theme will help to prevent our prayer from degenerating into sentimentality or dependence upon the unpredictabilities of a passing religious euphoria. Equally important is the conviction that at the heart of a suffering world there is a God who is revealed as infinitely more than an omnipotent creator. Christian prayer begins from a consciousness of the fatherhood of God and has its model in the prayer which Jesus gave his friends.