Do You Expect Your Prayers to Be Answered?
Prayer without belief isn’t really prayer.
It’s kind of a silly question. If someone asked you, “Do you expect your prayers to be answered?” You might reply, “It would be really nice if they did.” Shouldn't we have the faith to say, "Of course I do!" If we take a step back and think about how we are praying and what we expect to happen as a result of our prayers, we might be surprised at what we uncover. Sometimes a prayer can seem to be a plea with our Father to do something for us or heal someone we love. Jesus made it clear in Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Isn’t it true that we can not trust and …
Fr. Panayiotis Papageorgiou
4:19 pm on Monday, August 15, 2011
Excellent article, Julie. I also like the comment by Mr. Hopper. If I may add one more thing to this conversation: The prayer of the Lord in Gesthemane is the best example for how we should approach prayer: As Jesus sees the passion on the cross coming his way He prays "May this cup be taken away from me", but immediately he turns around and surrenders to the Will of the Father and says: "May … more ›