FAITH AND MERCY; TWO POWERFUL INGREDIENTS FOR PRAYER. (Homily for May 27, 2016. Friday of the 8th Week in Ordinary Time.)


Bible Study:  1 Peter 4, 7 to 13 and Mark 11, 11 to 25.


Have you ever prayed before and did not see the results of your prayer? I guess you did not feel very happy about it and you must have wondered what went wrong. I am also sure that you must have at least prayed once in your entire lifetime and saw the result of your prayer. There is nobody who can say since he or she was born, his or her prayer has never for once been answered.

So why is it that sometimes, prayers are answered, and some other times, we don’t get results? Today, Jesus gives us two reasons why prayers are often not granted and at the same time he gives us two powerful ingredients that must be present if our prayers are to be effective at all.

The first is FAITH. He says: “Have faith in God. 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 receive it, and you will.”

If we were to be really honest with ourselves, we would admit that too often, when we pray, we ask for things and which we do not expect to happen. We just pray because we want to pray but we do not believe that what we ask for would eventually come to us. Search your heart thoroughly and you will find doubt sitting like a monster questioning every single word you utter at prayer. It keeps asking you, “Are you sure that can happen?” “Has anything like that ever happened?” etc.

Prayer is like being given a cheque with your name written on it, faith says: “Rejoice, the money is yours already.” Doubt says: “Destroy the cheque, it is not the same thing as money.”

The second key ingredient for effective prayer is MERCY. Jesus continues: “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Dear friends, the act of prayer is not all about commanding or dictating to God because no one is senior to God neither is there anyone who can say, “God is owing me.” Whenever we pray, we are always at the mercy of God. He alone decides whether or not to grant our requests. All he demands is that as much as we expect to benefit from his mercy, we should be merciful to others as well.

Deep seated hatred and inability to forgive others of the hurts they have done to us hinders our prayers. In our first reading, St. Peter tells us: “Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins. Practice hospitality (mercy) ungrudgingly to one another.” Never ask for what you cannot give! Do not seek God’s love and mercy when you close your heart completely to your fellow brothers and sisters in need.

Therefore, my dear friends, the next time you are set to pray, ask yourself two questions: “Do I believe that I already have what I am about to ask for?” and “Are there persons who I am yet to forgive and free from the prison of my heart?” If your answers to these questions are affirmative, then go ahead and pray!

Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, as you deepen my understanding of your word every day, help me to always apply faith and mercy whenever I pray. Amen.


Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. 

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