Prayer of the Persons of God

WORD 2day: Thursday, 11th week in Ordinary time

June 18, 2020: Sirach 48: 1-14; Matthew 6: 7-15

Elijah and Elisha - they have been churning our minds these days! Wondrous deeds, challenging words, and above all, demanding prayers! There is a characteristic difference in the prayers that persons of God make and that is what Jesus tries to teach us today. Prayer is not about begging God for things that we badly need, it is discussing with God my Father and Mother, the concerns that fill my mind at a point of time.

The Our Father is one such prayer, a prayer of a person of God; a prayer that puts God at the centre and not my needs; a prayer that is bothered not so much about receiving the blessings as about being blessings to others; a prayer that does not seek a secure life but a sincere life; a prayer that is not all about bringing pleasure and happiness to myself, but that which educates and forms me to find my real happiness and pleasure in accepting whatever it is, from God's hands. The prayer of a person of God, is born out of one's life and renews one's life, at one and the same time.

Prophets are persons of God, par excellence. They stand for God, they speak for God and they challenge us on behalf of God. Jesus was a challenging prophet too, and that is why he calls us all to be prophets like him. And in being prophets, the first call is to be persons of God, to be persons who come from God, persons who think in terms of God, persons who strive to grow in the mind of God. And the prayer that they make will manifest this reality without any doubt. 

Let our daily life be in imitation of these prophets, these persons of God; let our daily prayer be a prayer of a person of God.