Bible
Study: Deuteronomy 34:1-12. / Matthew 18:15-20.
For us to
properly understand today’s Gospel passage, we must read it in the context of the
discussion between Jesus and his disciples which begun in yesterday’s selection.
The disciples came to Jesus to inquire about who was the greatest in the
kingdom of heaven but instead of Jesus to mention a name or provide an hierarchy
of greatness in heaven, he ceases the opportunity to lecture the disciples on
the true meaning of greatness using the illustration of a child and as the
lecture progresses, he then goes on to tell us the nature of the power we
possess and how we are to gain access to this power.
While for the world, greatness counts in terms of monetary or political
power, for us Christians, greatness counts as our ability to pray and pray
well. The power we possess is not money, this power is not in knowing people;
this power has nothing to do with our level in society or who our parents are.
The power we wield over the world as Christians is in our lips and we
exercise this power by praying with firm faith in our hearts. Let those who
belong to the world struggle and fight themselves for worldly power, it should
not be our concern or aspiration. We know where we exercise power.
“Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew
18:18. In another passage, Jesus reveals the scope of the Christian’s power
when he said: “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up
and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what
he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you,
whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be
yours. Mark 11:23-24.
As much as personal prayer is powerful, Jesus even places a greater
premium on community prayer: “If two of you agree on earth about anything for
which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For
where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them” Matthew 18:19-20.
This is why it can be said that a “prayer-less Christian is a power-less
Christian.” The moment we stop praying especially in common with the people we
live with, the enemy easily penetrates us. “A family that prays together, stays
together.” But a family that never prays together is always riddled with issues
here and there.
Prayer is our key to Power. Our greatest concern should never be on how
much of the world’s goods we acquire but how much we develop our prayer life.
What we stand to achieve in prayer is far far more than what we can ever
achieve even if we spend the rest of our life working relentlessly night and
day. Prayer is Power!
We can actually develop our prayer life to an extent that we are able to
talk face to face with God like Moses about whom we read about in the first
reading. Moses had grown in his spirituality to an extent that God was speaking
to him like a human being would engage a person in a conversation. Up to the
point of Moses’ death, God told him everything that was going to happen, how he
would see the Promised Land but not enter it and so on. This should be our
greatest aspiration to grow in our prayer life and God will help us if we chose
to begin today.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, you taught your disciples how to be prayerful and showed them that the
greatness they sought was only possible by prayers. Help me to improve in my
prayer life daily that I may exercise dominion over the world just as you
intended when you created man. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you.
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