The Power of Prayer

Sometimes there are things that I just can't bring myself to pray for.  I feel they are worthy of God's attention but I feel that they are just to hard.  Some things are just impossible. 

im·pos·si·ble

1. not possible; unable to be, exist, happen, etc.

2.unable to be done, performed, effected, etc.: an impossible assignment.

 

If something is impossible what is the point of praying for it.  The situation can't change.  It has already been written in stone.  Some situations are just like that.

 

But then I remember:

 

for nothing will be impossible for God. Luke 1:37  

 

If nothing will be impossible with God why wouldn't I pray?  I really don't know.  I guess I am always trying to limit the Lord to Earthly constraints.  Because I can't do it, God can't do it.  

Really!?!  I think God can do a little more than I give him credit for.

 

Today he (God) showed me once again how wrong I was.  

There was a situation involving one of my students that was going very badly.  It was upsetting me greatly but I just couldn't see how it could be fixed or resolve itself.  No matter what point of view I looked at it from, it just didn't seem possible.  I didn't see a point in praying for the situation because there was no possible way for it to work out anyway.

On my way into work this morning I said a decade of the rosary because I finally  remembered that nothing is impossible with God (but I really didn't see what he could do anyway.)

Then as the day began one person after another kept telling me things that I thought were impossible regarding this situation.  Now its not looking so impossible after all.  

Just another reminder of the power of prayer.

 

 Even though it is hard to understand (because we know what the word impossible means), we need to remember that God is more powerful then even the impossible.     

 

 

The best advice

Think about the best advice that you have ever been given.  I can think of a lot good advice that I have been given.  I can also think of a lot of very bad advice that I have been given.  But that's all another story.  

This is about the absolute best advice that I have been given.  This is the kind of advice that you don't have to double think or wonder if it will lead you in the wrong direction.  This is the kind of perfect, all around advice.

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Who does this advice come from?  Our Mother Mary.  She gives us the ultimate advice.  "Do whatever he tells you."  And of course the he that she is referring to is Jesus.  She tells this to the severs at the wedding at Cana in the second chapter of the Gospel of John.  They have run out of wine.  She has informed her son of the problem.  She does not know what (if anything) Jesus is going to do but she knows that the best thing that the severs can do to solve this problem that they are facing is to listen to Jesus. "Do whatever he tells you."

This was good advice at the time just as it is good advice to us today.  What ever problems we are facing.  What ever difficulties we come across.  What ever questions or anxieties we have. Just follow Mary's advice "Do whatever he tells you."  How simple it is but how hard it is to do.

How can we better follow this advice?

Prayer and Love

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"Yes, God alone is our true and unfailing support, just as love and prayer are the only sure spiritual levers with which it is possible to lift up the world."- Pope John Paul II (1994)

I don't think we have any doubt that the world needs to be lifted up.  That is for certain. But how are we supposed to do that?

With Prayer and Love.
John Paul II states it very clearly, with prayer and love.  John Paul II has seen what we are up against, he has experienced our world, he know what we face and he still says that it must be met with prayer and love.  Not worry, anger, arguments, hate, frustration, war, protests or ignorance.  But with prayer and love.
Instead of worrying, say a prayer. Instead of arguing, show them your love.  Instead of letting anger build up inside of you, pray for peace.
For it is with love and prayer that we can lift up the world.
If we want to enact some real change, which we must, we need to pray and love.  
So often I worry about problems in the world today.  Then I get angry about them.  Maybe I will discuss the issues with someone.  Soon I will get frustrated because I feel like I can't do anything to fix the problems anyway.  This is not the way to lift the world.  The world can be lifted through love and prayer.  And this is something that I can do.  I can treat others with love. I can share God's love with others, and I can pray and pray.  Pope John Paul II is giving us a sure response to the world around us.
This is something that we must keep in our minds at all times.

That prayer and love are the secrets to lifting up the world.

This is what we must be focused on if we are going to direct the world to the Lord.

Will he recognize you?

When I sat in mass when I was growing up I probably knew the name of everyone sitting around me. The rare person that I didn't know by name, I knew by sight and would definitely say hi to if I saw them on the street.  They were part of my community.  I was part of that community.  Even now when I go to mass in my hometown I know most of the people around me and will say hi to several people after mass.  

This was just the way it was.  You went to mass with your community.  You said hi to some of them afterwards and you would no doubt see some of them later in the week at school or at the grocery store.  I never really though much about it.

Fast forward to a Sunday morning in 2013.  I am not going to mass in my hometown.  I am going to mass in a town that I have lived in for less than a year.  On the average Sunday morning I would be lucky if I knew by name even one other person in the church besides my husband.  I have gotten involved in the parish but it is not quite feeling like I am part of the parish community yet.  It is something that I miss greatly.  It is something that I have gotten upset about and am continuously working towards.  But in the meantime I sometimes feel very alone even with the church is filled.

But today I saw things differently.  I cannot remember the exact wording but during one of the prayers the priest said something about Jesus recognizing the people in the church today.  That's when it clicked. 

Knowing the person who is sitting next to you is not nearly as important as knowing Jesus.

While having the person sitting next to you recognize you is nice, it is not nearly as important has having Jesus recognize you.  

How are we living?  Are we living our lives in a way that Jesus would recognize us?  Do we talk to him?  Do we spend time with him?  Could we even expect him to recognize us?

I am still working towards becoming part of the community.  But now I recognize that I don't go to mass to be part of a community.  I don't go to mass to say hi to my friends.  I go to mass to see Jesus.