2612 In Jesus ‘the Kingdom of God is at hand.’72 He calls his hearers to conversion and faith, but also to watchfulness. In prayer 672 the disciple keeps watch, attentive to Him Who Is and Him Who Comes, in memory of his first coming in the lowliness of the flesh, and in the hope of his second coming in glory.73 In communion with their Master, the disciples’ prayer is a battle; only by keeping 2725 watch in prayer can one avoid falling into temptation.74 2633 Three principal parab les on prayer are transmitted to us by St Luke: 546 — The first, ‘the importunate friend’,75 invites us to urgent prayer: ‘Knock, and it will be opened to you.’ To the one who prays like this, the heavenly Father will ‘give whatever he needs’, and above all the Holy Spirit who contains all gifts. — The second, ‘the importunate widow’,~6 is centred on one of the qualities of prayer: it is necessary to pray always without ceasing, and with the patience of faith. ‘And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’ — The third parable, ‘the Pharisee and the tax collector’,77 concerns the humility 2559 of the heart that prays. ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ The Church continues to make this prayer her own: Kyrie eleison! 2614 When Jesus openly entrusts to his disciples the mystery of prayer to the Father he reveals to them what their prayer and ours must be, once he has returned to the Father in his glorified humanity. What is new is to ‘ask in his name’.~8 Faith in the Son introduces ~ the disciples into the knowledge of the Father, because Jesus is ‘the way, and the truth, and the life’.79 Faith bears its fruit in love: it means keeping the word and the commandments ofJesus, it means abiding with him in the Father who, in him, so loves us that he abides with us. In this new covenant the certitude that our petitions will be heard is founded on the prayer ofJesus.8° 2615 Even more, what the Father gives us when our prayer is united with that ofJesus is ‘another Counsellor, to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth’.8’ This new dimension of prayer and of its 728 circumstances is displayed throughout the farewell discourse.82 In the Holy Spirit, e is a communion of love with the Father, not only through Christ but also in him: ‘Hitherto you have asked nothing in my name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.’8~