Prayer Question

[www.cbcrecovery.com]

Hi Everyone. A question:

I you pray for something, should we as Christians take any action to fulfill a prayer or leave it in god's hands for Him to fulfill it?

Nick

[mary]

Hi, Nick,

Well, we are told to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and to "(b)e (anxious) for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let (our) requests be made known unto God." (Philippians 4:6.) Since we're commanded to pray, I guess we should do it! :D We can also know that God's grace will always be sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9) and that we can do all things that He wills us to do through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

When I first read your question, my first thought was about witnessing to people who don't know the Lord... If people don't hear "a word in season" from us, then maybe we've missed an opportunity, but we don't need to bemoan it or worry about it because God will make up for those things. He will bring to pass everything that He wills. That's what a loving God He is! Sure, we must make efforts to do God's will as His Spirit and His Word leads us to do, but we're not always going to succeed. We're only human. But prayer is always necessary!

God bless you.

mary

[SpinningHead]

I have been asking myself that same question these days. It's really hard for me to be hands off of a prayer need if I see that there's something I can do to meet that need. Of course, then I think that there just being the opportunity to meet that need was God in fact, answering that prayer.

Like the guy on the rooftop...as the flood waters rose, he prayed that God would rescue him. A rowboat came by and the guy would not get in saying, "God will rescue me!". The flood waters rose and a speed boat came by. The guy would not get in saying, "God will rescue me!". The flood waters rose higher and a helicopter came and threw down a ladder to the man. The guy would not take hold of the ladder saying, "God will rescue me!".

The man drowned and was swept away.

Inside the pearly gates the man asked God, "I thought You were going to rescue me?!".

God said...

I sent you a row boat, a speed boat and a helicopter!!
What more did you want???

[mary]

Excellent, SpinningHead!!! That's exactly how God answers prayers :) Wow - you sure did come up with the best illustration possible! :)

mary

[SpinningHead]

Excellent, SpinningHead!!! That's exactly how God answers prayers :) Wow - you sure did come up with the best illustration possible! :)

mary

Awww, shucks. You make me wish I could take credit for it. ;)

[Jerry]

When I was growing up there was this old cranky "Catholic Priest" in our town.He would tell the kids,,"If you kids expect an answer from God,,,ya better put some legs on them prayers ".......I thought he was a pretty cool guy :D
Love Jerry

[mary]

When I was growing up there was this old cranky "Catholic Priest" in our town.He would tell the kids,,"If you kids expect an answer from God,,,ya better put some legs on them prayers ".......I thought he was a pretty cool guy :D
Love Jerry

Hey, Jerry,

Having been brought out of the RCC (I was raised and had 16 years of education in it), I hate to venture this... but... methinks the cranky old Catholic priest you knew might have had Mary's legs in mind ;) , or maybe St. Maria Goretti's, or - given what we know these days, and perish the thought! - St. Anthony's, St. Jude's, St. John Neumann's... Can't get to God, can't possibly get the attention of the Lord Jesus Christ, without the "intercession" of these other folks, ya see. Mary is co-Redemptrix... :eek: (Or maybe she's not; I haven't read the latest conclusions of the teaching magisterium on that yet.) I'll concede that some of these people are "cool;" we even had our very own "Joe Cool in a Roman collar" at our parish when I was growing up, but "godly" or "regenerated," they likely ain't... ;) :)

(But I was still never subjected to the level of abuse in a Catholic church that came my way in a rotten, putrid, little sewer of a "Reformed Protestant" one! In the conversation in which "pastor" threw me out of that church, I said to him, "So what would you have me do, if you're kicking me out? Go back to the Catholic Church?" He said, "I don't care what you do." "Saintly" man, that one... :mad: Doubt if any Catholic priest anywhere could touch him in any contest of depravity.)

But I digress. I got a good education from the nuns whom I thought were strange combinations of nincompoops and jack-booted, female thugs and Jesuits who were their male counterparts. Who am I to complain? :)

Love, mary

[Jerry]

Dear Mary,,,
I guess I encountered the rare "Nice Old Priest".Legs on the prayers was said in the context of making prayers come true.Like if someone in the Parish was sick,the old guy would shang-hi 2 or 3 of us and take us to their house to do chores ,cut the lawn ,,,stuff like that on Saturday then take us for ice cream or pizza :D .He really was a good guy,,,,,,,,,,but oh boy :D He could sure get grumpy if he caught us being jerks :D
Love Jerry

[mary]

Dear Jerry,

Oh, okay... I guess I was getting a bit snarky there, wasn't I? :p Maybe, d'ya think, Catholicism is one of my triggers? (And I thought I had no triggers whatsoever!)

Well, of course, faith without works is dead, but the whole "works" thing is so messed up in the RCC that, well... Of course, that priest was teaching you guys that you don't just pray for someone and wish them well; you have to get out there and DO for them, and that's doing service to the One who said, "When I was hungry, you gave Me to eat..." In Catholicism, too, that's a whole separate teaching called "subsidiarity." That means that the community - in this case, Christians, or those who believe in God - is supposed to and must, in fact, take care of its own who need help. A person should not need to go to public resources for help. Too bad that so few people believe in that theory these days, would you say? The Jews have a similar teaching regarding doing good works for those in the community; "tzedakah" means "charity" and one is supposed to contribute in whatever manner one is able.

The church I was thrown out of was so devoid of care for its surrounding community and for missions that I frequently became incensed by that alone. That Catholic priest knew what he was talking about, and I will give him that!

love,

mary