Prayer Passwords

The most common dilemma for us Christians when it comes to prayer petitions is this – will God answer my request?

We pray for happy and fulfilling marriage.

We pray for healthy life.

We pray for successful careers.

We pray for safety for each family member.

We pray for the healing of a friend or loved one with illness.

We pray for a financially rewarding business.

We pray for passing the board examinations.

We pray for the next meal.

We pray for our country’s road to economic recovery.

We even pray for our enemies.

We pray for a lot of valid concerns and basic life’s necessities. And with expectant faith, we pray perseveringly either until the request is granted or when our hearts have grown tired and weary of waiting that we finally sank to hopelessness. We give up and feel that God has totally forgotten us. Sadly, we end up not praying anymore. But the assurance has always been given to us as Luke 11:9-12 says, “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?"

God answers prayers and He does so righteously because only He knows truly what is good for you and me.

So why does God delay and, seemingly at times, even denied His response to our prayer request?

The truth is, it is simply because we often forget to say the “passwords” to God’s blessing.

And what are these “passwords”?

First is a three worded sentence.

Come Holy Spirit.

Luke 11:13 says, “….how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

The Lord promised to, always and without fail, answer our request for the Holy Spirit.

And what benefits, in terms of our personal prayer requests, will we have from having the Holy Spirit within us.

CCC 1831 teaches us that - The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

When we have the Spirit within us, we will benefit from all His fruits and we will not only receive our prayer requests in a jiffy, ala UPS speed delivery, wrapped in glossy ribbons and colorful boxes. Instead, we will have the joyous experience of seeing them unfold before our very own eyes.

We will have a happy and fulfilling marriage.

We will have healthy lives.

We will have successful careers.

We will have safety for each family member.

We will have the healing of a friend or loved one with illness.

We will have a financially rewarding business.

We will pass the board examinations.

We will have the next meal.

We will have our country’s road to economic recovery.

We will have peace with our enemies.

The next password is another three worded sentence that is equally efficacious even without further elaboration.

Thank you, Lord.

A gracious attitude is a magnet for a gracious and blessed life.

May all our prayers be answered according to God’s will.

God bless po.

Casting Fear Aside

Zek : Mommy, I want to ride the airplane now.
Menchie : Why?
Zek : Hmm, because I want to be with Daddy in China.

My wife narrated to me this heart-warming short conversation with Zek while they were still in the Philippines and I went to China a few weeks ahead of them. They just woke up in the morning and were still on the bed. It pretty sounded normal for a child who is missing a parent, right? Well in his case, it is a little more special.

It all started when he was about 3 years old when he started to realize and act out, without any prior traumatic experience at all, his apparent fear of flying. From then on, riding the airplane has become a horrible and frightful moment for him and a challenging situation for us with all his relentless loud cries and sniffing sobs. My wife has to develop a sort of pre-flight mind-conditioning technique days ahead just to prep him up in his other succeeding flights. But needless to say, this step only took out very less fear from him because as soon as the planes powerful jet engines roars, his fear takes over again.

But my son surely misses my company. We always play together, wrestled on the bed, play with his Lego toys, study some of his lessons, go out and ride the car together to accompany my wife to the grocery shops and a lot more. And so after a few days away from our routines, he was missing my presence more than enough to cast aside his most dreaded fear of riding the airplane.

Zek's love for me over-came his fear.

As an adult, particularly as a father and husband, I must admit that I have my fair share of fears and worries, mostly concerning about the daily and financial provisions for my family and loved ones. I am anxious about each and everybody's health, Zek's homeschooling progress, work-related problems, my daily driving routes and pretty much anything that crosses my mind through the any given day. And when everything starts to be well and blessed, I would inadvertently worry about what's going to go wrong next and what the near future holds for us. As a result of these, I am sometimes distracted and unfocused becoming less productive and drifting away from my vision and mission in life. Silly, silly me.

Our Lord provides.
Our Lord guides.
Our Lord fills.
Our Lord quenches.
Our Lord's blessings and graces are endless and limitless and our Lord does everything that is necessary even before I ask.

So why should I worry? Why should I fear? And how can I set aside this fear?

1 John 4: 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love

In his innocence, my son reminded me once again that love is the answer, that when love takes over, fear can be conquered and be set aside. If I let myself be kept in God's loving presence, I can face all my worldly concerns and anxieties with utmost confidence and inherent calmness.

God's love is enough for all of us.
I must stop worrying.
I must start loving instead.

We all must do.

God bless us.