Way to Pray. . .

The wedding at Cana, John 2:1-11 – It’s been my most favourite miracle in the Bible since my childhood days, though I don’t know why I loved it so. I love this now, because no matter what happens in life, we have a wonderful Mother, who intercedes for us.

The heart understands the unspoken language. Mary knew the family of the married couple. As a Mother, Mary interceded on their behalf to Jesus.

John 2:4 - And Jesus said to her, "O woman, what have you to do with me? My hour has not yet come."

John 2:5 - His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

Jesus knew His mother and He knew no matter what He said, she would remain undeterred. He knew the love in her heart to overcome every obstacle. He knew the love and concern she had for all and He knew her strengths. He knew her obedience to do God’s will. Jesus shows us a way to His heart is through the heart of Mary. No matter what comes our way in life, no matter how difficult, no matter how humiliating the circumstance can get, stay on the path and remain as Mary undeterred. Remember: To Jesus, through Mary! Amen!

POINT 1  God’s will

When we oppose a thing that needs to be done, we are in opposition to the Will of God.

We pray for God’s will but the difficult part is accepting anything other than what we want. Humanly, to do Gods will - that would be impossible. Mary always did what was in the will of God and therefore at the wedding at Cana, Jesus knew that Mary was not asking something because she willed it but rather on what was in the will of God for Jesus to do. Mary shows us the way to Jesus with the words “Do whatever he tells you.” The way is marked for Obedience. 

POINT 2  Obedience

When God leads you to something that you feel in your heart, don’t keep putting it off. God’s way is always best. Obey His voice! Obedience to God is simple. DO AS YOU ARE TOLD!

 
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30.

Life can become burdensome at times. Jesus says to each of us, ‘Come to Me’. We need to surrender our burdens and freely take up His Yoke. Jesus through His humility shows that His yoke is freedom and love; His yoke is the Life which He won for us on the Cross.

St. Josemaria Escriva wrote: I insist, and I would like to engrave this deep in your hearts, that freedom and self-surrender are not contradictory. They sustain one another. Freedom can only be given up for love; I cannot conceive any other reason for surrendering it. When people give themselves freely, at every moment of their self-surrender, freedom renews their love; to be renewed in that way is to be always young, generous, capable of high ideals and great sacrifices.

Sometimes when we pray, we immediately discern the will of God. Other times, we must wait, trusting Him to show us when and how to move forward. Obey God regardless of the consequences.

It was through obedience to the Father's will that Jesus by His death on the Cross proved His undying love both to His Father and for every human being on this Earth. Love is obedience - It means doing whatever is asked of us. Let us never hold back to follow in Jesus walk of love.

John tells us that to truly love God is to do His commandments. 

“This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” 1 John 5:3.

We should obey God because we love Him.

• Jesus said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" John 14:15 and, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me" John 14:21
• When we pray, a clear conscience gives us confidence before God, because John said, "If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him." 1 John 3:21-2
• We should obey God because our hearts delight in the goodness of His commands, and our hearts delight to do what is right.

Obedience Is a Choice

Peter was faced with a life-changing decision-Luke 5.

Step 1: Peter was nearby listening to Jesus. The Lord knew that he was there and that he had an empty boat.

Step 2: Jesus entered Peter’s boat so He would be able to address the crowd better.

Step 3: Peter listened to Jesus’ request. He responded by explaining that he was completely unsuccessful the night before in his attempt to catch fish. Nevertheless, he obeyed the Lord, raised the sails on his ship, and headed out into deep water.

Step 4: Peter received the reward of his obedience.

What would have happened if Peter had said, “No”? Remember he was a seasoned fisherman.

The night before Peter caught no fish. He had been up all night pulling and dragging nets. All he wanted to do was clean his nets and go home. But Jesus showed up with a crowd of people, and the next thing Peter knew, he had said “Yes, to Jesus using his boat. It was not a difficult decision, but he had to agree to it.

The next step was more difficult: When Jesus told Peter to head out into deep water where he would catch a large draw of fish. A Rabbi, whom they were sure knew nothing about fishing, was telling Peter—the expert what to do.

Scripture tells us: he obeyed the Lord and stated, “Master, … I will do as You say and let down the nets.”

Trust God! This kind of faith comes by hearing God’s voice and responding in pure obedience. LISTEN!!!

God promises to aid us in the things that we have to go through. In Matthew 28:20 God said, "Lo, I am with you always." And in Genesis 28:15 God said, "And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."

When we obey God, we can trust that He will display His goodness and love to us. Like Jesus, our desire must be "thy will be done".

When we choose to delight and meditate in the law of God, we get to progressively and more intimately know the Author-GOD. Out of the love He plants in our hearts we delight to do His will. Our obedience brings us into His presence, the place of His blessing!

POINT 3  Prayer

From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2

Prayer is our lifeline. David prayed to God in praise, he prayed in distress, and he prayed when he needed help. No matter his state of being, his first action was to call on the Lord…

Prayer should be my first response, not my last resort.

As explained during Bible study – The way to Pray - Luke chapter 22-and the breakup as given by Fr. Ashlyn.

40 And when he came to the place he said to them, "Pray that you may not enter into temptation."

41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and knelt down and prayed,
42 "Father, if thou art willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done."
43 And there appeared to him an Angel from Heaven strengthening him.
44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down upon the ground.
45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,
46 and he said to them, "Why do you sleep? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation."

 

40 PRAY

   41 KNELT DOWN TO PRAY

          42 THE PRAYER

                   43 ANGEL

          44 THE PRAYER

   45 ROSE FROM PRAYER

46 PRAY

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray,” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread; and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive every one who is indebted to us; and lead us not into temptation.” Luke 11:1-4

When Jesus prays, He always has this most deep bond with the Father. Always in prayer and always in conversation.

Pray that you may not enter into temptation (verse40 & verse46) emphasis laid twice by Jesus. The Our Father states - and lead us not into temptation.

The will of God – verse42 and also emphasised in The Our Father. 

POINT 4  Persistence

Jesus tells us to be persistent in our prayers. We need to keep praying and not give up. God is just and He will hear our prayers. While He may delay, His answer comes speedily.

And he told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.’” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”  Luke 18:1-8

The woman is persistent. She keeps on coming. She believes and is vindicated. Her Faith is rewarded.

To believe, to be persistent – tall order isn’t it. I am terribly sick at times. My breathing becomes a lot tiresome. And as it was at that moment and I was lying down, I realized what it was with Job and why God was so pleased with him. His whole body was filled with sores, everything he had almost everything ceased to exist and he still believed and did not blame God. He was in a total surrender to God and he took that whatever happened and would continue to happen would be with the will of God in it. When something happens to our body we cannot take it anymore and we start complaining. Not so with Job. He saw the good. That is faith. And God rewarded him.

We need to be like Job, live a life of surrender to God, knowing and believing that ‘Our God is a God of the Impossibles’. He is The Alpha and The Omega. There is no God like our God.

POINT 5  Be Open!

These are the words that Fr. Ashlyn would always keep insisting on: 'Be Open'. 

See when God wants you to pay attention, the smallest detail matters. When HE wants your attention, He will teach in all ways possible. The Spirit of God is gentle. This is what God is telling you and me.

1: To be open and listen - To be open to nature. Every part of life is important and every link needs to be completed before it gets to the grand finale.

2: To be open to people. To know in this path to life, every-one is important, we cannot define who when or what, but what God has blessed, no-body will or can have a say.

3: To be open to prayers and to believe in the strength of prayer.  Sometimes we are so burdened with our thoughts that we don’t realize we are so near to the finish line. At such times the burden seems even more, therefore we need to pray. We need to believe. I do and I know at that appointed time I will find ...

 

The answer is always upto You, Abba Father! Thy will be done.

Please also continue to read: 
THY Kingdom Come! Part 2
Every HeartBeat of mine! 
Thy Kingdom COME! 
Way to Believe...  
Mass Etiquette