Prayer power

ACCORDING to a text message I received, a woman in search of a man goes through different kinds of prayer. At 20, she prays fantastic: "Lord give me the best man!" At 30, she prays optimistic: "Lord, give me a good man." At 40, she prays realistic: "Lord, give me a man, any man." At 50, she prays desperate and erratic: "Lord asa man? Bakit naman? Lord naman!"

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The leper's prayer, "If you wish, you can make me clean" (Mk. 1, 40-45) is worth considering. It had all the elements of a very powerful prayer because it came from a humble heart that truly believed, fully trusted. It also came from a desperate man who had nothing and who had no one else to turn to.

Why are your petitions not being answered? Maybe you are not praying humble. Maybe you are not praying optimistic. Maybe you are not praying trusting. Maybe you are not praying desperate. And the bottom line is, like the leper, do you really, really believe that what you are asking for will be given unto you?

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There are people who are very prayerful. They are what we call pray-ers. They are living reminders of God's presence in our midst. Do you have one in your family? Blessed are you. For all you know, the presence of one pray-er in your family has been the source of strength and grace for all the play-ers in your family. Wanted: more pray-ers in our families, in our homes.

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When I was a high school seminarian in Christ the King Seminary, we had a pious and prayerful religious brother by the name of Brother Boniface. This American brother spent almost the whole day praying in the chapel. I can never forget how he so devoutly and so slowly genuflected before the altar before going to his assigned place in the church. I even heard that, once, when he went to a movie house, he absent-mindedly genuflected in the aisle before he took his seat!

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My grandmother was another person who believed in and lived the power of prayer. She always had a rosary in her hand. I remember how at 6 p.m. she would gather all of us to pray the "Angelus" and the rosary.

There is something about prayerful people. They exude presence and power, in a very gentle way. And they achieve more than we can ever think or imagine. Indeed, many things are wrought by prayer in this world. We have so many talk-ers, do-ers. We need more pray-ers.

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The prayer of a sick person is very powerful, because it is offered along with pain and sacrifice. Let us be grateful to the many countless anonymous people who continue to lift up to their Lord their prayer offerings along with their sufferings. The Lord has blessed us and spared us so many times precisely because of the presence of such people in the world!

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Blessed Arnold Janssen founded two religious missionary congregations, namely the SVD and the S.Sp.S. He also founded a third congregation, the S.Sp.S.Ap (Pink sisters), a contemplative order of nuns who pray before the Blessed Sacrament 24 hours a day. These cloistered sisters pray for all of us and the whole world; they are the hidden "powerhouse" that keep us going. They offer powerful intercessory prayers for all of us. Do you need anything in your life? Ask the help of our contemplative and cloistered brothers and sisters who continuously whisper to God our prayers and petitions.

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Let us continue to storm heaven with prayers. Nothing is impossible. Let us continue to pray for peace and work for peace! May the Blessed Mother intercede for us so that there will be peace in the world, peace in our country, peace in our homes and peace in our hearts. Now, more than ever. Let's hold on to prayer power!

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One of the best inventions of our times is the cell phone. Amazing what a cell phone has done and can do in our lives. But more amazing is prayer. You don't need a cell site to get connected. You don't need to load. You don't need a phone directory. You don't need to store messages in the inbox or in the outbox. The most amazing thing about prayer of course, is that the network is never busy and the party can always be reached.

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The most peaceful and most assuring moments of my day happen when I kneel down (literally!) and humble myself before God as soon as I wake up in the morning, and just before I sleep at night. The act of kneeling down is a beautiful gesture of humility. When I kneel down, I am reminded who I am, and who God is, and when that is clear, then there is peace. Peace is disturbed when one believes and acts as if there is no God, or, in some cases, thinks he is God. Let God be God. Let man be man. Peace!

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A moment with the Lord

Lord, help me to become not only a good play-er, but also a good pray-er in this life. Amen.