The importance of prayer

Tuesday, September 06, 2016 23rd Week in Ordinary Time First Reading: 1 Cor 6: 1-11 Gospel Reading: Lk 6:12-19
Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them whom he called apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.
Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood on a level place. Many of his disciples were there and a large crowd of people who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. They gathered to hear him and be healed of their diseases; likewise people troubled by evil spirits were healed. The entire crowd tried to touch him because of the power that went out from him and healed them all.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)
The subject of prayer is almost always the impossible because we usually pray only when nothing else works. In his “Prayer” Ivan Turgenev wrote: “Whatever a man prays for, he prays for a miracle. Every prayer reduces itself to this: Great God, grant that twice two be not four.” When we treat prayer as a last resort, prayer becomes a venue for asking the impossible.
Jesus never intended prayer to be a last resort. On the contrary he wanted people to pray daily like it is their way of life. For this purpose he designed a prayer template for people to follow. It includes calling on God as Father, wishing for the coming of his kingdom, submission to his Will, asking for needs as basic as bread, asking for forgiveness in the measure that we forgive others, and asking for protection from evil. The template is customized for people who are supposed to be dependent only on God.
Jesus himself prayed even for things that were within his power to do. Choosing Twelve Apostles was within his capacity and expertise. But he spent the whole night in prayer like he was in a big crisis. The time of night, being time for indispensable sleep, is precious time. By spending precious time praying even though he was not in crisis, Jesus showed how important prayer is.
Prayer will not be a last resort in the context of deep relationship. When prayer is relationship-based, it ceases to be a seasonal exercise. The person prays because it’s his nature to pray, and not because life is disturbing him beyond his capacity to handle. Prayer is a relationship, not a venue for asking the impossible. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, MMExM, MAPM, REB. Email:dan.delosangeles@gmail.com.
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