![]() I don’t know whether you’re aware, but in the light of recent events in Eastern Europe, the overthrow of the Iron Curtain, the release of political liberty inside the Soviet Union. So I want to deal in this message with what I consider to be the basic requirements for praying that kind of prayer, for making you a person who can change the course of history. And we know that when we’re praying according to God’s will we will get what we pray for. And they go together because God’s word reveals God’s will. But, the conditions are threefold: faith, according to God’s word and according to God’s will. So if you take those three passages together, you’ll find that the scope of prayer is unlimited. But again there’s a condition attached, it’s according to His will. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him.” In other words, if we pray according to God’s word.Īnd one final scripture in the first epistle of John, chapter 5, verses 14–15: “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. There’s no other restriction, but the condition is if my words abide in you. And again we have the words of Jesus to His disciples: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.”Īnother version says “ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” Notice there what you desire. The condition there is faith.Īnd then we turn to John’s gospel, chapter 15 and verse 7. Notice, all things that you ask in prayer you will receive. Jesus Himself is speaking and He says: “And all things whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” But first of all, I just want to read to you three statements from the New Testament about what prayer can do. So, I want to speak to you in this message on certain requirements for getting our prayers answered. Because, they can release the omnipotence of God into situations which goes far beyond anything that the wisest or most powerful human being can do. #THY KINGDOM COME THY WILL BE DONE HOW TO#As I understand it, the most influential people on earth today are those who know how to get their prayers answered. I look in a completely different direction. But I don’t believe that they are the really influential people. Probably your mind would turn to political leaders such as George Bush or Mikhail Gorbachev. He “wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1Tim 2:4).If I were to ask you here whom do you consider the most influential kind of person on earth, I suppose you might think of various different answers. With the petition, “Thy will be done,” we may ask, “What is his will that we pray to be done?” The answer is easy enough. The joyful expectation of the final and full, coming of the kingdom should animate our lives guide us in the way of peace and help us to live our lives as though what we believe is true. It is here we can point back to our previous post, “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” In this petition we see that we are called to further the reign of God and his kingdom through the way we live our lives or a more accurate way to phrase it, the way we allow him to live his life in and through us. We are praying that God’s kingdom would come through our sanctification in the Spirit, and through our commitment to love and serve others, to work for justice and peace. Praying for the kingdom to come fully strengthens our commitment to building the kingdom of God in the world as we are called to do to renew and transform the world around us through the joy of the Gospel. We pray for Christ to come again as he promised and for God’s reign to prevail definitively.Īdditionally, in this petition, as well as in Advent, we are reminded of another sense of the coming kingdom that is, Christ and his kingdom coming daily in our hearts. We look forward with great hope to Christ’s second coming when the kingdom will be fully established. As the saying goes, “already and not yet.” We have an entire liturgical season highlighting this – Advent – in which we remember all of salvation history and key moments in Scripture that anticipated the coming of Christ and the establishment of the kingdom. This week we explore two petitions in the Our Father: “Thy kingdom come,” and “Thy will be done.” In these we are reminded that Christ has indeed established his kingdom, yet not fully. Diocesan Administration and Finance Contact Quick List 2022.IRA Charitable Rollover – an immediate giving option.Woman is First Consecrated Virgin in Richmond Diocese.Bishop's Scholarship to Briar Cliff University.United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.The Lumen- Communications of the Diocese of Sioux City.Society for the Propagation of the Faith.Catholic School Employment Opportunities.Coalition for Ministry with Persons Having Disabilities.Catholic Marriage Preparation Guidelines. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |