The Lord taught his disciples the Lord’s prayer and gave
a discourse on prayer.
When
to pray?
Any moment in time because God is
always on call 24/7
How
to begin?
Start
by reciting the ,”Our Father” by this we give reverence and praise to God. We give Him
honor and recognize Him as the Creator,
the source of all that we have and that we are.
What
should be the disposition of the person
who is praying? .
Go to God not only as one
going to a friend but, to a Father. There is no need to convince him as He is already at our side. He loves us. He is
our Dad, Father.
What
to pray for?
There are things we pray
for and do not pray for but which God is willing to give.
We pray for materials gifts- where as God wants to give us life
We pray for things outside
of ourselves which we think can make us
happy for some moments but God is
thinking of happiness from within which lasts.
We pray for success that
will allow us to Lord it on others but
God thinks of purifying experiences that
will make us humbly say to Him” forgive as our sins so that we also forgive
others.
Prayer is a conversation
with God. It is not a monologue it is a 2- way traffic. After we have said our piece to God; - joys and blessings
received, anxieties and problems encountered,etc. We are to give God a chance to say His piece to us
too. We ask Him,“Lord what do you want me to do?”
In prayer it is not God who
should change, but it has to be us. God is not made in our image and
likeness: but, we are to His. He should
therefore be the one to shape us and not the other way around. Let us learn to
totally embrace God’s will and we shall love peace.
Perseverance
in prayer.
In prayer of petition,
perseverance is important. He tells us to continue knocking even when the door
is closed.
Our prayers are always
answered but at times the answer God gives is
different from the request we have made. God is a wise Father. He is a very loving God. He
knows better what is good for us more than we do. This is why He sometimes has
to change what we ask Him for.
We cannot at times
understand why God does not give us the
very thing we ask for. But we can be certain of this: He always hears and
answers our prayer. But it is His way. The best time is His time.
Does asking God for things
or asking Him to do things, in a way can help
persuade God to change His mind in doing certain things? Obviously not.
God doesn’t need human wisdom to guide him. Nor does he feel human persuasion
to get him to do what is good and right.
Why
then do we pray for things?
Blaise Pascal, 17th
century mathematician answered that question this way: “Prayer is one of the
ways that God chose to share his infinite power with us. Just as God’s gift of
intelligence gives each one of us power, so the gift of prayer gives us power."
God set up the universe in
such a way that we can understand it ,
not only by the exercise of human prayer. Not every person can influence human
affairs by the power of his/her intelligence but every person even with a low
I.Q can influence human affairs by the power of prayer that God shares us.
God made us more than
spectator to his creative power. He has given us a share in it. This is part of
what it means to be made unto the “image and likeness of God."
A Nobel Prize winning
surgeon named Alexis Carmel summed up the power and role of prayer this way:
Prayer is a mature activity
indispensable to the fullest development of personality. Only in prayer do we
achieve that complete and harmonious assembly of body, mind and spirit which
gives the human, the needed strength.
Remember: When you pray,
you are united with God and you share of his power and strength!
When we pray:
1. We
are united with God- we share more of His life, power and strength.
2. When
we pray we deepen our personal relationship with Him, we see our dependence and
trust in God as a child to his Father. Indeed we learn to perceive God as a
Father and we His children. We therefore immense ourselves into our intimate
relationship with God and with one another.
St.
Therese, prayed for conversion of a criminal,who did not belive in God,
and who was to be executed by
guillotine.It was reported that at the
last moment of his life, he kissed the
crucifix.
St Monica, the mother of St.
Augustine,prayed unceasingly for the conversion of her son. God listened to her
prayers. Her son did not only become a priest,but a very good and holy bishop
and a doctor of the Church. His spirituality has greatly influenced many.
Pray therefore, for your
son/daughter/wife/husband.Pray unceasingly and pray with great faith. God will
hear your prayers.And more prayers means more grace, little prayer give little
grace and no prayer ,no grace.