Lord, Hear Our Prayer

 

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

(July 16, 2023)

Prayer is defined in various terms usually depending on the purpose of prayer, of what a person wants to convey to God. But the simplest definition of prayer is that it is MAN’S COMMUNICATION WITH GOD. A conversation with Lord Almighty with various reasons like thanksgiving, praise, forgiveness, supplication, and others. Theologians, Church leaders, catechists offer different explanations on the types and forms of prayers. But there is only one most important prayer of all, and that will suffice. It was The Lord’s Prayer. Often called the Our Father, Pater Noster, Ama Namin, etc.

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’” (Luke 11:1-4)

This reflection will focus not on prayer itself but on what disposition a person could have after having prayed.

There is this post on Twitter by @Al_Quraan which illustrates how Allah/God answers man’s prayer. I replied to the same tweet that “It is the same with us Catholics.” Isn’t it?

I believe that each one of us have the same experience, one way or the other, as to how we sort of behave after having expressed our prayers to God, which oftentimes is a prayer of supplication. And our disposition or belief is always that God will hear us and therefore will answer our prayer as we asked for. Afterall, Scripture says:

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:9-13)

When God answers our prayers immediately, we rejoice and are very grateful. We return in prayer of thanksgiving to God for answering our prayer. As a result, our faith in God grows and even become more intense and more surrendering. We are indeed generously joyful to God.

There are times though that it takes some time before our prayer is answered. So many times, we repeat the same appeal to God and still we have not received an answer. It’s like God is testing our patience, or rather, God is teaching us to be patient. It took quite a certain period of time before God finally grant our prayer. We were faithfully patient. We never faltered in our trust and faith to God that eventually God will hear our prayer, which He did. And so, we are joyfully grateful and turn to Him in prayer of thanksgiving.

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (1 John 5:14-15)

There are times, though, that God does not answer our prayer and not grant what we ask for. We ask God over and over again why He has not answered our prayer and grant our petition. We tried to do everything that we can, still there was no sign that God hears us, or so we thought. But something comes up which somehow we realized was a much better one for us. God did not give us what we wanted but we receive something far greater than what we asked for. By experience, we know that this happened to us in various ways, be regarding work, education, relationships, finances, and others. God gives us what He knows is best for us. As long as we remain faithful and trusting in God, He always listens to us and even gives us far better than we ask for. Remain faithful, God hears us.

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. (Isaiah 59:2) 

We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. (John 9:31)

And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. (1John 3:22)

In conclusion, God knows what is best for us. We implore in prayer what we need. God hears us and grants us our petition. At times though, the response of God is delayed because God knows when the right time for us is to receive what we ask for. It is also true that what we ask for will never be granted because God knows what is better for us and that will the one He will give us. We only have to be patient. We need to remain steadfast in our faith. We must remain confident in God’s promise that “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10)

Be assured. God hears our prayers. Believe. Trust. Pray. Keep the faith.

 

Acknowledgment:

·         https://www.haikudeck.com/jesus-and-nature-inspiration-presentation-d45ce4f806

·         https://blog.peacebewithu.com/he-hears-our-prayers/