Let the words that I
speak and the thoughts of everybody present here, be acceptable in
your sight, our strength and comforter.
Introduction:
There
was a boy whose name was Rahul. He was lying on a hill on a warm
spring day. He saw puffy white clouds rolled by and he pondered their
shape. Soon, he began to think about God. He started thinking what to
ask if God talks to him. Then he said out loud. “God?
Are you really there?” To his
astonishment a voice came from the clouds.
“Yes, Rahul? What can I do for you?”
Seizing the opportunity, Rahul asked, “God?
What is a million years like to you?”
Knowing that Rahul could not understand the concept of infinity, God
responded in a manner to which Rahul could relate. “A
million years to me, Rahul, is like a minute.”
Then Rahul said, “Oh!!!... Well, then,
what's One Crore like to you?” Then
God said “A Crore to me, Rahul, is
like a rupee.”… “Wow!”
remarked Rahul, getting an idea.
“You're so generous... can I have one
rupee of yours?” God replied, “Sure
thing, Rahul! Just a minute.”
Now, in the story we
have just seen what Rahul has asked God. Let’s think about what we
ask God when we pray to God. How do we pray? Reflecting upon the
read pericope, let us look into what John says about how one should
pray. I would like to bring out two points from these verses for
today’s meditation
Firstly, the
Basis of Prayer:
Before we talk about
the basis of prayer, let’s ask ourselves what is the basis of a
conversation with another person. The basis of a conversation is a
simple fact that the other person listens to what we are saying and
vice versa. The basis of prayer is also similar. It is a simple fact
that God listens to our prayers. The word which John uses for
boldness/confidence is interesting to look at. It is parresia.
Originally parresia
meant freedom of speech, the freedom to speak boldly. Later it came
to denote any kind of confidence/boldness. With God, we have freedom
of speech. God is always listening, more ready than we are to pray.
We never need to force our way into his presence or compel him to pay
attention. He is waiting for us to come. We all know how some of us
are eager to receive a phone call from a loved one. We also know how
some of us are eager to go home and see our loved ones. In all
reverence, we can say, God is like that with us. God waits eagerly to
listen to our prayers.
Secondly, the
Principle of Prayer:
The principle of
prayer that John points out is that, what we ask should be in
accordance with the will of God. Three times in his writings John
lays down what might be called the conditions of prayer. 1. He says
obedience
is a condition of prayer. I John 3:22 says that we receive whatever
we ask because we keep his commandments. 2. He says that remaining
in Christ is a condition of prayer.
John 15:7 says that if we abide in him and his words abide in us, we
will ask what we will, and it will be done for us. The closer we live
to Christ, the more we will pray right, and the more we pray right,
the greater the answer we receive. 3. He says that, to
pray in Jesus' name is a condition of
prayer. John 14: 14 says that if we ask anything in his name, he will
do it. The ultimate test in praying is… can we say to Jesus, “Give
me this for your sake and in your name?
Prayer must be in
accordance to the will of God. Jesus teaches us to pray like this
“Your will be done…” not your will be changed. Jesus, in the
moment of greatest agony and pain in the garden of Gethsemane,
prayed, “not as I wish but as you
wish… your will be done”. This is
the very essence of prayer. C. H. Dodd writes… “Prayer,
rightly considered, is not a device for employing the resources of
omnipotence to fulfil our desires, but a means by which our desires
may be redirected, according to the mind of God, and made into
channels for the forces of his will”.
A. E Brooks suggests that John thought of prayer as “Including
only requests for knowledge of, and submitting in, the will of God.”
According to what I
understand from the read text, John says that we have to pray
according to the will of God. But how is it possible to discern the
will of God and pray according to it? In Luke 11 it is written, ask
for the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit is given to us, the
Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and this truth is Jesus
Christ. So when we have Christ in us, we will also have the mind of
him as Paul says in Philippians 2: 5. So, this mind of Christ will
enable us to discern the will of God and pray according to it. And
when we pray according to the will of God,
then all things will be given to us for
the glory of God.
Concluding my
reflection I would like to tell us this. We are so apt to think that
prayer is asking God for what we want, whereas true prayer is asking
God for what God wants. Prayer is not only talking to God, even more
it is listening to God.
Let’s pause for a
moment and reflect upon what we have just heard.
Chinnam Prazwal Jasper
BD II
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