Daily Prayer

 

Day 20, Lord, purify my heart and body to serve you whole heartedly

   There are so many ways to pray to God. But God looks into our heart, He test us how much love we put in our heart for Him while praying. While praying if we kneel and pray, we will be blessed with humility. “We are brought low in all the earth, this day for our sins” St Boneventure wrote in his Book: Holiness of Life. We should surrender ourselves, bend low, down to earth. The earth is the foot stool of God, and we are not ashamed to bend the knee in front of our Lord. Psalmist says: Psalm 95:6–7 (NJB): Come, let us bow low and do reverence; kneel before Yahweh who made us! 7 For he is our God, and we the people of his sheepfold, the flock of his hand. Daniel also prayed  three times by kneeling towards east(Jerusalem)Daniel 6:11 (NJB): When Daniel heard that the document had been signed, he retired to his house. The windows of his upstairs room faced towards Jerusalem. Three times each day, he went down on his knees, praying and giving praise to God as he had always done. Daniel never afraid of anyone, but he trust in God. He has the faith that, God will always hear his prayer. 

Daily Prayer

 

Day 19, Lord, let us stay awake to pray, let Your spirit guide us

   The night in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus again encountered with his Father. Jesus has to obey his Father’s will and to establish the everlasting covenant by giving his life as a sacrifice. The disciples have heavy eyes while Jesus was praying in the late night; they could not stay awake to pray with him. Jesus was so distressed in the Spirit; he began to feel terror and anguish. Jesus asked the disciples. so you had not the strength to stay awake with me for one hour? Stay awake, and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough but the human nature is weak.’ Matt. 26: 41.  While we are praying we become one body and soul with God. It will be an inseparable communion with Father, Son and Spirit. Many saints will accompany us and we can experience this communion of saints and God will reveal them to us. ‘That’s why the one hour prayer in the midnight is very important. He prayed earnestly with full of grievances to submit all the souls to the Father from the beginning to the end because he is Alpha and Omega. ‘In his anguish he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.’ Lk. 22: 44. His sweat drops became drops of blood. He accepted all the darkness, which is encountering our mind and body.

Daily Prayer

Day 18, Lord, teach us the secrets of Your Kingdom. 

   When we are in union with Christ, God will open His Divine door of Mysteries in front or us to get the inheritance in His eternity. We will be His children and He will be our Father. According to measure of His grace we will be able to do all the goodness to build up His Kingdom in our midst. Then what we need from this world, nothing! He is having the tremendous wealth in His most rich Kingdom. God will reveal the mysteries of the wealth in His Kingdom and the world of Satan; ‘I shall give you the secret treasures and hidden hoards of wealth, so that will know that I am Yahweh, who call you by your name, the God of Israel’. Is. 45: 3. No body can count or measure His wealth. God gave us His most precious possession that is His only Son Jesus our Lord. That’s why God is asking us to call Him or pray to Him till He answers our petitions. ‘Call to me I will answer you; I will tell you great secrets of which you know nothing.’ Jer. 33: 3. We know nothing about His eternal secrets because we are in flesh and his kingdom is not of this world. This Jesus told Pilate: John 18:36 (NJB): ‘Mine is not a kingdom of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my men would have fought to prevent my being surrendered to the Jews. As it is, my kingdom does not belong here.’ 

   ‘Prayer is the desire for God, an indescribable devotion, not given by man but brought about by God’s grace. As St Paul says: For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit himself intercedes on our behalf in a way that could never be put into words. If God gives to someone the gift of such prayer, it is a gift of imperishable riches, a heavenly food that satisfies the spirit. Whoever tastes that food catches fire and his soul burns for ever with desire for the Lord’. The excerpts from an homily of St John Chrysostum