My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
OUR LORD SAID: "AND WHATEVER THINGS YOU ASK YOU ASK IN
PRAYER, BELIEVING, YOU WILL RECEIVE" (Matthew 21:22).
"So Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, if
you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done
to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and
be cast into the sea, it will be done.
And whatever things you ask in prayer, BELIEVING, YOU WILL
RECEIVE" (Matthew 21:21-22),
The true Christian believer understands that to receive "whatever things you ask in prayer," one must have the faith and discernment to ask for what is in accordance with God’s will. The Almighty God and Creator cannot be manipulated by our prayers. In another place we hear: "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication" (Ephesians 6:18). SAint John Chrysostomos says, "With many such divine words the Holy Apostle Paul exhorts us to live our life with prayer and to nurture constantly our mind with it, because all human beings have need of prayer just as trees have need of water. As the trees cannot bear fruit unless they drink from their roots abundant water, so also we cannot produce the precious fruit of piety unless we are nurtured by prayers."
Saint John Chrysostomos says, "This is why we must pray and worship God when we rise from our bed before the dawn of the sun, when we are about to have our meals, and when we prepare to recline for sleep. We must at every moment offer a prayer to God…Since we fear all evil things and want to be protected from them, let us guard ourselves with the holy prayers, so that God may have mercy upon us all and make us worthy of the Kingdom of heaven through His Only-Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, whose power and glory will endure until the end of the ages. Amen."
The Holy Fathers of the Church state that our All-Loving God is always with us providing us with all things we need and protecting us from all evil. The Saints of our Church emphasize that our prayers must not be a means of supplicating for favors and immediate action to our requests but to instead establish a relationship founded on agape and faith. Saint John Chrysostomos writes, "For as the sun illumines the body so also does prayer ilumine the soul. If then the blind person is deprived because he cannot see the sun, how much more is the Christian diminished and harmed who does NOT pray constantly, and who, consequently, does not gather into his or her soul, thorough prayer, the Light of Christ."
Our Lord Jesus Christ says to us: "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 he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:7-11)
The threefold exhortation, "ask–be given, seek–find, knock–be opened," promises the availability of God’s help. The verbs are present progressive: be asking, be seeking, be knocking. Note the synergy: our effort is commanded, but never apart from the help of God. We ask in prayer; seek by learning God’s truth, and knock by doing God’s will. Isn’t that what we pledge to God when we say to Him, "Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven?"
We learn from the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican how our Lord God wants us to pray. "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER!" I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 10:13-14). The tax collector’s posture and words express his profound humility and contrition, the opposite of the Pharisee’s arrogant attitude.
Orthodox Christianity teaches that God acts through time and space, and while we might find ourselves anxiously waiting for His response, it is necessary to have complete trust in His Divine Providence. We are indoctrinated today to demand instant or immediate answers and action but that and is not how our Creator God works. Time means nothing to Him! In His Divine wisdom, God may use the opportunity to teach us certain significant lessons that will help us to grow spiritually, i.e., patience, humility, trust, perseverance and confidence. He may. in His divine wisdom, allow us to experience even suffering. Holy Apostle Paul says it clearly: "we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations produce perseverance; and perseverance, character, and character, hope" (Romans 5:3). Therefore, my friends, trust in God’s wisdom and His unconditional love for you and don’t be impatient and unbelieving. Use the time wisely while you are waiting for His blessings by strengthening your faith in Him, of our resolve, and dependence on Him.
As God’s created creatures it is humanly impossible to understand how and why God acts the way He does but it is always out of agape and for our benefit. Our Holy Orthodox Church teaches and His plans for His creation are a mystery. God Himself points that very fact to us when He says: My counsels are not as your counsels, neither are your ways My ways" [Isaiah 55:8-9). Reason alone will never bring us to God. Rather, we confess that we are FINITE; He is INFINITE. THUS WE COME TO HIM BY FAITH. [Resources: The Orthodox Study Bible)
___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
+ Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +
With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
