THURSDAY, FIRST WEEK OF LENT
Est C: 12, 14-16, 23-25; Ps 138: 1-3, 7-8; Mt 7: 7-12
TURNING TO GOD HABITUALLY FOR HELP
Queen Esther, humbly came before the Lord, the God of Israel, to pray for the protection of her people from the Persian enemies. Esther surrenders herself before the Lord, with only one intention in her heart and mind. Esther’s prayer in her moment of supreme danger was promoted by her habitual practice of turning to God for help. She was not praying because there was nothing else she could think of. In her prayer, she experiences the caring love of God the Father, and as she continues to pray, she is immersed in the presence of her Creator. The tone of her prayer evolves from anxiety to a charismatic faith in God. This happened because without her knowledge the spirit of the Lord moved into her heart, and filled her with the power of the Lord.
Every day we spend time before the Lord in prayer. But does my prayer become like Esther’s? What hinders prayer from becoming effective? The very essence of our Christian living is ‘love of God and love of neighbour’. This sounds very pleasing to hear but praying for the intentions of others is not easy. To be capable of doing this the virtue of self-detachment is necessary. The devil will always be waiting to tempt us. The moment we pray for the other, he plants in our hearts, all the reasons to hate the other. But we must be aware of his cunningness and keep our senses in check. We must be empty before the creator in prayer for when we are empty, he fills us with his spirit and fills our souls with his grace.
As Jesus promised us, “Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it…” (Jn 14:13), remember to pray for the other, whomever he or she might be, for all are his children. God is our creator and saviour, he wants you and me to be saved, but the way to save each other is to pray for each other. When we are immersed in praying for others, the spirit will move in our hearts.
Response: On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.
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