Father Cletus Bulletin Article

PERSEVERANCE IN PRAYER

There is no alternative to prayer. It is either we pray or we do not pray. And when we do pray, our prayer is answered by God. Sometimes, the answer to our prayer comes exactly the way we want it. The other times, it comes in a different way but in accordance with what is best for us (God knows what is best for us at a particular point in time). Jesus assures us that our prayer is answered when He says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7-8).

God wants us to pray always. This is not because our prayer benefits Him. No, our prayer does not in any way benefit God. We are the ones who reap the fruits of prayer. Prayer gets us through so many challenges and difficulties of life. It brings peace to our lives and it helps us to have confidence that come what may, God is by our side. A prayerful child of God is a powerful child of God, while a prayerless child of God is a powerless child of God. To continue to grow in our spiritual life as well as in our relationship with the Lord, we must be men and women of prayer.

Do you want your life to be seasoned with the sweetness of God? If yes, then you need to pray every day. This is because “prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the soul and makes all things sweet...[and]when we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun” (From the Catechetical Instructions of St. John Mary Vianney, Patron of the Priests).

In conclusion, let us look at the attitude we are called to have regarding prayer. It is the attitude that is represented by the acronym, PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens). Those who trust in God know that there is nothing they cannot receive from Him. If we ask and we have not received, let us not be discouraged. Instead, let us continue to Pray Until Something Happens (PUSH). St. Paul puts it this way: “Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer” (Rom. 12:12).

Father Cletus Orji

Parochial Vicar