17TH SUNDAY, 24 JULY 2022, GEN18. 20-32, COL 2. 12-14; LUKE 11. 1-13
Thrust: Plead for others!
Indicative: Praying is experiencing a situation of lack and need, trusting in God’s power and mercy, depending on Him and pleading for His positive response
1. Today’s word of God focuses on the power of “prayer of intercession”. Abraham in the first reading intercedes on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. He pleads for God’s mercy to spare them from destroying on account of their sinfulness. He enters into a “holy bargain” with God not to destroy all at least for the sake of ten good souls. Sadly, not even ten good souls are found!
2. In the second reading, we have Jesus himself who intercedes for us to the Father. His is the greatest prayer of intercession because he intercedes not only by his word but also by his very self-immolation. By this, he obtains the remission of sins, reconciliation and salvation.
3. In the gospel too, Jesus emphasizes the importance of prayer. He teaches us how to pray, giving us the most sublime prayer, ‘Our Father’. It is not just one prayer among many, not a prayer like many others. It is the model prayer that teaches us the real spirit of prayer.
4. We learn some essential features of true prayer. They are spiritual primacy and intimacy, trust, perseverance and altruism. Unfortunately, in the case of a good number, praying is mostly listing out our needs and submitting our various applications to God. We do not rule out this aspect of ‘asking God for help and favours’.
5. No doubt that Jesus himself taught and encouraged us, saying, “Ask, it shall be given. Knock, it shall be opened to you. Seek and you will find it”. But what is important is that our prayer should not become just a list of petitions. Prayer should not be just need-based or favour-oriented seeking.
6. Rather, all our prayer should be permeated by a sense of primacy to God and intimacy with Him. He is the first and the greatest in our life. We give first place to Him. We try to grow in an intimate relationship with him. His will and His kingdom become our highest normative principles.
7. With a sense of primacy and intimacy, we must place our total trust in Him, with a profound sense of dependence and abandonment. We trust and entrust because He is a good and loving Father who always cares for us. Even the earthly fathers who can be wicked are so good toward their children, how much more caring will be our heavenly Father who is infinitely good.
8. Another significant feature of true prayer is perseverance. We shall not expect instant results. We shall not demand quick favours. Our petitions may be reasonable and valid. But at times our prayers may not be answered. We may not receive the favours requested. Even then, can we be patient and steady?
9. If spiritual primacy, intimacy and perseverance are what solidify a prayer, it is altruism that beautifies and dignifies a prayer. “Other-orientedness”, praying for others is what is seen in Abraham’s bargain of intercession or Jesus’ expiation for our sins. When our prayer becomes more and more self-directed and self-interested, then it loses its merit and value.
Imperative: Jesus assured, “Ask, and it will be given”. But he did not say, “Whatever and all that you ask, will be given”. Especially He never promised all material favours. Instead, it is the unfailing abundance of the Holy Spirit.
(REFLECTION 2 FROM 2019, JULY 28)
“Our Father” (Mt 6. 9-15; Lk 11. 2-4)
The prayer “Our Father” is unique, because it is the prayer directly taught by Jesus himself. It is the model prayer. Explicitly it professes to teach us what to pray, as per the request of the disciples. But it essentially clarifies what to pray for and how to pray.
1) What to pray for?
Broadly we can think of two types of needs to pray for: Spiritual or virtuous needs, and material needs. Spiritual needs are those that concern God and faith, others, and charity. Material needs are those that concern our material existence on earth as human beings, which refer to food, drink, health, clothing, money, house, family, things, education, work, travel, communication, competence, and skills, and conducive situations for a dignified living, opportunities, and equipment for efficiency and effectiveness means of happiness. Certainly, we cannot be unrealistic and over-spiritualistic, and thus turn blind to our material needs. It is not wrong in itself to pray for material needs. Jesus himself teaches us in the ‘Our Father’ to pray for the daily bread (sustenance) (Mt 6. 11). He encourages us to ask, seek and knock God in prayer (Lk 11. 9-10: “So I say to you: 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; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened”.
But clearly, praying for material needs is not the primary object. It cannot occupy huge space and time in our prayers. How proper it is that often our prayers are bundled with petitions for health, money, profit, business, job, social status, power, position, name, prestige, foreign opportunities, promotions, academic excellence, career-climb, prosperity and affluence, big house, big car, big luck, etc.! Jesus clearly teaches us that material concerns cannot be our priority, but the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Mt 6. 31-33). This priority for the spiritual needs, concerning God and others, in terms of faith and virtue, is expressed in different terms and aspects: Already in the ‘Our Father’ - Pray for the coming of God’s kingdom (Mt 6. 10), for honoring His holy name (Mt 6. 9), for doing His holy will (Mt 6. 10), for God’s forgiveness (Mt 6. 12, 14), for guarding us against and amidst test and temptation (Mt 6. 13; cf. Lk 22. 40:“Pray that you may not be put to the test”), pray for the Holy Spirit (Lk 11. 13. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”), pray for standing firm and worthy before God (Lk 21. 36: “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man”), pray for laborers for God’s harvest (Mt 9. 38: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field”), pray for spiritual inner healing by forgiveness of sins (Jam 5. 16: “pray for each other so that you may be healed”).
2) How to Pray? What is the spirit of prayer? Or what are the right dispositions of prayer?
This concerns the proper dispositions with which one should pray and has nothing to do with the gestures or postures or manners, or methods of praying. The danger is always there that sometimes people give undue importance to these external factors, as if they are the criteria to determine the effectiveness of prayer, and thus neglect the essential spirit and dispositions of prayer.
a. Spirit of filial devotion
God is our Father and we are his children. We are His family and we belong to Him. We are not strangers or aliens who can be indifferent or tepid toward Him. This signifies that there is a relation between God and us, which is so familiar, close, and intimate, and we can never distance or separate ourselves from Him. Alas! In the case of many, God has become a stranger, a stop-gap, a mere object for worship and pious activities, a source of favors and benefits, a problem solver, a troubleshooter, a readymade and instant solution. The space for God, the tenderness and sensitivity toward God, the warmth of relating with Him, and the craving and longing that is characteristic of any close bonding, are diminishing.
b. Spirit of fraternity, evidenced in unity and forgiveness
If God is our Father, we are all brothers and sisters to one another. Mark! We address God as “our” Father and not my Father alone. A prayer that lacks this spirit of fraternity is certainly not pleasing in God’s sight. This fraternity is explicitly evidenced in the spirit of unity and the readiness to forgive the other. “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins” (Mk 11. 25-26). Thus all the tendencies and acts of disunity, division, discrimination, resentment, and retaliation, are incongruent with the right spirit of prayer.
c. Spirit of humility (cf. Lk 18. 9-14: Parable of the Pharisee and publican)
Prayer without humility is like a bottomless vessel, which can hold no water within it, however immense it is. Often our prayers are not answered because they are tainted and geared by pride and arrogance, which are totally detestable to God. God always loves, blesses, and rewards the humble: “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Lk 18. 14).
True Humility guards oneself against all self-complacency, self-righteousness, and self-glory, keeping oneself aware of one’s own unworthiness and deficiency. At the height of all, humility readily clings to the lord, overwhelmed by his tender love and abundant mercy, despite our recurrent imperfections. True humility hastens in its steps to embrace the Lord with its weak and tiny hands, making a total surrender of the whole self. Blessed is that humility that keeps a correct image of the self, regards the other with esteem, and surrenders to God in simple love!
d. Spirit of surrender to God’s holy will and kingdom
In every genuine prayer, there is a deep spirit of surrender and abandonment to God and His holy will. Often in prayer, what we ask God is not so much the grace to do his will, but rather the indulgence for Him to do our will. At times it appears as if our prayers are trying their best to persuade, cajole or convince God. Let us surrender ourselves to His hands in a total spirit of abandonment, just as clay lays itself in the hands of the potter.
e. Spirit of total trust and stable faith
Can there be any meaningful relationship with anybody or supplication submitted to anybody without a deep trust and faith in that person! Then how much more is demanded a deep trust and faith for meaningful and effective prayer. True faith unfailingly and immensely trusts in God’s providential care and the redeeming and transforming ways of God, even when apparently things prove otherwise. Confidence in God’s power and dependence on it strikes off all fear and strikes down to the ground even the mighty opponent.
f. Spirit of perseverance (cf. Lk 18. 1-8: the parable of the persistent widow for justice; Lk 11. 5-8)
True prayer demands that we never give up hope and never abandon the enthusiasm to pray. Very often many want that their prayers are immediately answered and that God grants them immediately all that they ask for. And if they do not receive the favors which they desire and if the things do not happen according to their requests, then in no time they lose their trust and patience, and become indifferent and cold in their prayer, or become disillusioned. True prayer calls for perseverance. This is the perseverance that is professed in Habakkuk 3. 17-19: “Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen, and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights”. This is the same spirit of perseverance of the Canaanite woman (Mt 15. 21-28)
g. Spirit of attentiveness and consciousness
The quality and the effect of prayer do not depend on the multiplicity of words, but on the authenticity of the spirit, not so much on the length and number of them, but on the attention and depth of heart. Jesus says clearly: “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Mt 6. 7-8). God is not impressed by the number of prayers but is pleased with the quality of the spirit. There is no use in using or reciting bundles of prayers, inattentively and unconsciously. Prayer is not so much giving information to God about our needs or applying pressure on Him, or prevailing over Him with our persistence and misery. It is in fact making our own selves aware of our dependence on God, and expressing our trust in Him. Is it an attempt to make God attentive and alert to our presence and needs, without being attentive ourselves!
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