17TH SUNDAY, YEAR C: REFLECTION BY FR. JULIAN EKEH
TRUE PRAYER: A DIALOGUE WITH GOD
(Luke
11:1-13)
The word of God
today takes our mind to something very special and inescapable in our
relationship with God, namely, prayer. This is one thing that has become so
common and yet commonly misunderstood. What many seem to know about prayer is
actually what it is not. What myriads take to be prayer in reality is misconception.
What we have believed prayer to be is indeed not what the author of Christian
prayer has defined it to be.
WHAT IS
PRAYER?
Prayer has been
variously defined. It is understood as the raising up of mind and heart to God.
It is seen as communication with God. It is taken to be a form of dialogue with
God. This is true. Hence, the Igbo Catechism calls it "nkariuka anyi na
Nna anyi Chineke, iji too Ya gozie Ya, kelee ya maka ihe oma Ọ na emere anyi
biakwa riọ ya ọgọ maka ihe ndi na-akpa anyi na ibe anyi". The above
implies that prayer has to do with dialogue with God in order to worship and
glorify Him, appreciating Him for His goodness and requesting for our needs and
those of others. We saw this in the intercessory prayer of Abraham to God for
Sodom and Gomorrah.
Today, prayer is
not just presented to us as a practice, as a show, or as fun. No! Prayer is
seen as a life.
THE LIFE OF
JESUS: A REFLECTION OF PRAYER
Jesus is indeed
the Man of Prayer. A good number of times, the apostles saw Him at prayers. The
disciples were not novices in prayers. The Jews were known to pray a good
number of times in a day. Their synagogues and temple were designated places of
prayer. They must have been praying. Also, some of His followers were formally
disciples of John the Baptist. So they knew what prayer is. But in Jesus, they
saw a different type of prayer. They saw a life punctuated with prayers. They
saw a life synonymous with prayers. They saw a unique way of praying they had
never witnessed. They asked the Lord to teach them how to pray.
Do you have the
desire to pray? Do you actually pray like Christ since you are a Christian? Do
you think that those things that you feel make your prayer a prayer is actually
what makes it one? What's special about Jesus' way of praying?
LEARNING FROM THE SCHOOL OF JESUS, THE MASTER
OF PRAYER
Jesus
communicates always in an intimate way with God. Yes, God is high above, but in
Jesus' prayer, God is brought very close. The conversation becomes a heart to
heart one, a friend with friend talk, an interesting one indeed. The fact
remains that when one is in
conversation with his beloved, hours spent is like a minute. Seeing all
these, the apostles couldn't help but ask:
"Lord, teach us to pray." They have really seen Jesus as
master in the matter of prayers. Jesus begins the teaching. Prayer is communal and personal. As
individuals, we should know how to pray to God as Father of us all. Prayer is a
relationship with God and with one another.
WORDS OF
PRAYER
Jesus gave them
the words they should use in praying. He
taught them how to pray like Himself. He made them understand that they are
sons of the same Father. That God is their one and only loving Father. Thus,
they should relate to God, like friends do. It is a relationship of love. It is
an invitation to dialogue with God like Jesus. This is what we do when we pray.
WAYS OF
PRAYERS
How to pray is
the question. A lot of people pray following "a man of God's way."
Jesus is the way to the Father. He has shown us the way. Let us follow Him and
recognize too that prayer is not only the words we say. What we do and our
silent recognition of the Almighty power is part of prayers. Let us not emulate
the self-acclaimed prayer warriors. Let
us live prayers. Let us not think that it is how loud we shout that make our
prayers heard. Let us see prayers as talk and listen affairs. Not just talking.
May we give God the opportunity to talk to us when we are at prayers. Let us be
docile to His will. Let us humble ourselves before Him just like His children
that we are.
Many people are
suffering from spiritual low self-esteem. They think they must speak in tongues
before they are heard. They believe they must use special forms of diction.
They think they must sing and jump up before being convinced they have prayed.
PRAY
PERSISTENTLY AND WITH CONFIDENCE
The persistence
with which friends talk to each other is interesting. It is a trusting type of
persistence. Jesus gives us the confidence to call God our Father. To pray to
him in our unique way. No two sons approach their parents the same way. Each
son develops his special way of approaching his father.
TIME FOR
PRAYERS
Always is the
time. Pray always and never lose heart is the instruction.
WHAT TO DO WITH PRAYERS: ASK- SEEK- KNOCK
ASK
In confusion
about which way to go, what to do, and so on and forth, prayer is the only way.
God has the final answer to all our problems.
SEEK
The face of God
is the only source of our joy. The psalmist would say it is your face, oh Lord,
that I seek. Hide not your face. What have you lost? Your joy, your peace, Divine mercy? Prayer is
the only true way of finding.
KNOCK
The Lord gives
us access to His Sacred Heart. His heart is never locked. He's not like the man
who would not open the door because it is night. He opens new opportunities to
us, and he opens the door to us to enter into a deep relationship with Him. He
never keeps us outside his mercy. When we knock, He opens.
THE HOLY
SPIRIT AND OUR PRAYERS
The jump to the
Holy Spirit in the Gospel is worthy of note. Through prayers and asking, God
gives us the greatest of all our desires. He even knows that we may not know
how best to pray. Our prayers may have some limitations. The Holy Spirit prays
in us with sighs deeper than words. Prayer here in the Spirit is something more
than lips service. Jesus would say that true worshippers will worship in spirit
and in truth.
May God bless
His word in our hearts.
LET US PRAY
Oh God, through
our Lord Jesus Christ, you taught us how to pray. Answer our prayers, wipe our
tears, and grant all our petitions with favour. Let each day of our life open
to us a dialogue with You. May our daily conversation with You bring us true
conversion, forgiveness of our sins, and true peace with You who lives and
reigns with Jesus Christ in the unity of the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen
Happy Sunday
to you (17th Sunday, Ordinary Time, Yr. C)
May your
prayer be acceptable in God's sight.
Rev
Fr. Julian O Ekeh
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