Bible
Study: Wisdom 18, 14 to 19, 6 to 9. And Luke 18, 1 to
8.
When we
pray to God for something and we do not get immediate answers to it, there is
always a tendency in us to stop praying for those intentions. This is because,
we either feel God is unwilling to grant it to us or that we do not deserve
such intentions. But surprisingly Jesus tells us today in our Gospel passage:
NEVER STOP PRAYING!
How and why
God chooses to grant immediate or delayed results to our prayers is a mystery!
We cannot fully predict God, even the most intelligent theologians the world
has ever produced have never been able to come up with a formula for quick
answers. There were times I prayed for something in less than three minutes and
I got the result. There were other times I said masses for certain intentions
repeatedly for weeks and did not get the answer I had desired. But Jesus is
telling us today, TIME SHOULD NOT BE BARRIER!.
At times,
we are tempted to think that God answers prayers based on our level of
holiness. I have heard people say things like: “The prayer of a sinner is an
abomination to God.” If that is the case, how do we reconcile it with John 3,
16; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son….” And the world
being referred to here was a world of sinners. Can you love someone and at the
same time consider that person’s words as abomination? Impossible. So
therefore, WE MUST NEVER GIVE UP IN PRAYERS.
Our
awareness of guilt arising from sin should not stop us from praying, rather we
should approach God like the tax collector who went up to the temple to pray
and without raising his head simply said: “Be merciful to me a sinner.” This
man went home justified unlike the Pharisee who simply prayed to himself. We
should not allow Satan, the accuser of the brethren lie to us that our prayers
are useless. If we believe our prayers are useless on the basis of our sins,
this would only lead to despair (turning our backs on God) and plunge us even
deeper and deeper into greater sin all in a bid to seek consolation from the
world. Yes, we may not get immediate results but as Jesus says this morning: NEVER GIVE UP IN PRAYER!
Living a righteous life should be our hallmark but we should not forget
that it is through prayer we get to tap the needed power and grace to avoid
sin. Even the time we spend praying everyday washes us from worldliness, takes
away temptation and doubles our faith. One of the best forms of prayer is
PRAISE. Our responsorial Psalm this morning says REMEMBER THE WONDERS THE LORD
HAS DONE, NEVER FORGET HIS GOOD DEEDS. In moments of desperation, when it seems
as if nothing is working, the best thing to do is to start singing praises to
God and while singing, you may do well to bolster your faith by recalling what
God has done for you in the past. Just begin to ask yourself, “What would I
have been right now, if God had not saved me from that accident? What would I
have been if God had not allowed me to be born? Perhaps I could have been
aborted by my mum, perhaps I would have been a still birth, and perhaps I would
have died in my childhood days from some diseases. I can walk well today
because I was immunized against polio. Am I better than those children whose
mothers did not know of the need for immunization? Am I just luckier than those
children who were aborted by their parents? What have I done better than them
if not for God? Just go through your whole life and start analyzing things that
would have befallen you but God saw you through.
By the time you finish this exercise, you would realize that you really
have no reason to complain about not getting immediate answers from God. SING
PRAISES TO HIS MOST HOLY NAME. NEVER STOP PRAYING. And if the only prayer you
ever say is “Thank you” it will be enough.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, you have taught me the importance of constant prayers today. I therefore
resolve never to give up on my daily prayers. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Weekend.
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