LENT WEEK 2: DAY 15
One question people sometimes ask is why should they pray? Many people do not see any reason why they should pray and so they relegate prayer to a secondary or even an unimportant thing. But it is my intention today to tell you that prayer contrary to what some people think is not an option but is the only option. It is not a key but it is the master key that opens all doors. We cannot do without prayer and the reason why our lives sometimes drown in sorrow is because we neglect prayer and try to fly by our own wings. Jesus who was God during his earthly life started his day with prayer (Mark 1:35) and ended the same with prayer (Matthew 14:23) and in the heart of his difficult miracles resorted to prayer (John 11:41-42). He did even more and you will notice that when the time for him to die drew near, he offered a series of prayers for himself and all those he loved (John 17:1ff) and when the moment for him to enter the path of persecution came, he still resorted to prayer (Matthew 26:38-39) and at the very last moment of his death, he ended with prayer (Luke 23:46). This little summary shows us the importance of prayer in the life of anyone who claims to follow Jesus. His life started with his mother offering a sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving for him (Luke 2:22) and he kept the attitude of prayer till death. This perhaps might be the reason why the evil one wasn’t able to have dominion over him. To begin his ministry, he took 40 days of prayer and fasting which led to him overcoming the evil one and his schemes (Matthew 4:1-11) and this could be the reason why his ministry was so glorious that every power that encountered him bowed before him. This is the life of the one we are called to follow and we who love him must emulate this same life and become people of prayer. In examining the life of Jesus, we will notice that prayer wasn’t a temporal thing but it was a lifestyle. Jesus prayed in every circumstance and made prayer always an issue. It is in this light that St Paul will encourage us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and you will notice how Jesus started his day in prayer and ended it with prayer. We too have to make prayer a habit and our way of life. To pray by day and by night and to see prayer not as a routine but as a privilege to which we have been called. At the multiplication of the loaves, we see Jesus knowing he has the power to do it, still raising his eyes in prayer before giving the bread to the people. What does this imply for us? It means that even when we are faced with things, we know we can handle at a go, it is still advisable to pray and commit them into the hands of the one who sees all things and knows all things. This helps to avoid unpleasant surprises. I once fell on a video where a man confessed that he left Christianity because he couldn’t answer the question of why Jesus will pray to God if he is God? In other words, how can God pray to God? This question will look difficult only for the one who has a shallow knowledge of what prayer is. Many people look at prayer just from the point of view of supplication and they think prayer is all about asking and requesting from God. Reducing prayer to such is missing what prayer really is. Even Jesus in talking to his disciples pushed beyond the asking level and entered into the seeking and knocking (Matthew 7:7). What then is prayer? Prayer is a lifestyle; it is a communication between two or more persons. It is you talking to your heavenly Father or you talking to your brother Jesus. Seen from this point of view, prayer will stop being a burden and become a delight. It will be you sharing every moment of your life, experiences, and plans with a beloved friend and listening to what he has to say about it. The reason why many people have barren prayers is because they have limited themselves to that monologue where they come and talk and walk away without waiting to hear what the other person has got to say. Habakkuk says he will climb his watch tower (Prayer place) and he will wait for what the Lord has to say (Habakkuk 2:1), which means he will pray and wait for the lord to answer. Daniel will practice this when he engages in a 21-day prayer and waits until he has a response from God (Daniel 10:12). Look at prayer as that time of grace when you approach a caring friend to share a good moment with him or where you go to seek a solution. Prayer is an act of love and when we look at it from that perspective, it stops being a burden and becomes a thing of joy. Coming back to Jesus, it was but normal that he spent time talking to his Father, whose will he was accomplishing. Those moments of prayer were always fruitful and the Father always showed up for him (Matthew 17:5) or an Angel from the Father did (Luke 22:43). Create beautiful moments with God in prayer and you will have a graced-filled life where the heavens will constantly be opened for you. A good example of what prayer can do is how God miraculously saved Peter because of the prayers of the people who gathered and prayed fervently (the power of community prayer {Matthew 18:18-20}) for God to save him (Acts 12:4-17) or of Paul and Silas who though in prison did not worry about their condition but decided to bless the name of God and God stepped in to save them (acts 16:25-26). Either way, you look at it, there is power in prayer and a prayerless Christian is simply a powerless one. Prayer opens doors that no one could open and prayer could change situations that seem desperate. Prayer is a weapon given to us and it is a powerful way to invite the Divine into our situation and change things. When faced with the dilemma of his life, Jacob had to stay back and pray (Genesis 32:24-31) and it is in that battle prayer that God gave him victory over what was ahead. We have to stop and pray before engaging in all that awaits us and we shall be victorious. Make prayer a habit and success will be your story. Prayer can be of various sorts and we hope to look at the various forms of prayer subsequently.

Resolutions

I resolve to draw nearer to God in prayer.
I resolve to develop a life of prayer.
I resolve to make prayer my new lifestyle.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I acknowledge you as the all-powerful God and approached you this day to beg for the grace of a fruitful prayer life. Teach me to always come into your presence and to bring before you my whole life. Help me to be faithful to prayer and to overcome all that stands in my way. Amen.