20260618 THE POWER AND EFFICACY OF PRAYER THAT COMES FROM FAITH
18 June 2026, Thursday, 11th Week in Ordinary Time
irst reading |
Ecclesiasticus 48:1-15 |
The spirit of Elijah fills Elisha
The prophet Elijah arose like a fire,
his word flaring like a torch.
It was he who brought famine on the people,
and who decimated them in his zeal.
By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens,
he also, three times, brought down fire.
How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah!
Has anyone reason to boast as you have? –
rousing a corpse from death,
from Sheol by the word of the Most High;
dragging kings down to destruction,
and high dignitaries from their beds;
hearing reproof on Sinai,
and decrees of punishment on Horeb;
anointing kings as avengers,
and prophets to succeed you;
taken up in the whirlwind of fire,
in a chariot with fiery horses;
designated in the prophecies of doom
to allay God’s wrath before the fury breaks,
to turn the hearts of fathers towards their children,
and to restore the tribes of Jacob,
Happy shall they be who see you,
and those who have fallen asleep in love;
for we too will have life.
Elijah was shrouded in the whirlwind,
and Elisha was filled with his spirit;
throughout his life no ruler could shake him,
and no one could subdue him.
No task was too hard for him,
and even in death his body prophesied.
In his lifetime he performed wonders,
and in death his works were marvellous.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 96(97):1-7 |
Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.
The Lord is king, let earth rejoice,
let all the coastlands be glad.
Cloud and darkness are his raiment;
his throne, justice and right.
Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.
A fire prepares his path;
it burns up his foes on every side.
His lightnings light up the world,
the earth trembles at the sight.
Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.
The mountains melt like wax
before the Lord of all the earth.
The skies proclaim his justice;
all peoples see his glory.
Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.
Let those who serve idols be ashamed,
those who boast of their worthless gods.
All you spirits, worship him.
Rejoice, you just, in the Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | 1S3:9,Jn6:68 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 6:7-15 |
How to pray
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him. So you should pray like this:
‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test,
but save us from the evil one.
‘Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.’
THE POWER AND EFFICACY OF PRAYER THAT COMES FROM FAITH
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Ecclus 48:1-15; Ps 97:1-7; Mt 6:7-15]
The prophet Elijah and his successor, Elisha, were great prophets of the Lord. The book of Sirach sings high praises especially to Elijah who was seen as the greatest prophet of Israel. Whilst Moses was a symbol of the Law, Elijah was the symbol of a true prophet. That was why at the Transfiguration of our Lord, the apostles saw Moses and Elijah conversing with our Lord. Moses and Elijah summed up the Old Testament, which comprised the Law and the Prophets while Jesus, representing the New Testament, embodies both the Law and the Prophets in Himself as He is the Word of God in person.
What made Elijah and Elisha such great prophets? It was their unwavering faith in God. They gave their lives entirely to God and put their faith in the power and justice of God. They never hesitated to recognise the God of Israel as the true and almighty God. We remember how Elijah sought to restore the pristine faith of Israel, which had been corrupted by King Ahab when he married the pagan queen, Jezebel. She opened the door to the prophets of Baal and, with the support of her husband, built high places and shrines to worship Baal and other Canaanite gods. In his desire to purify the faith of Israel as a result of pagan influence and practices, Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to a spiritual battle to determine who the real God of Israel is. Of course, as we have read earlier, Elijah was able to demonstrate that the God of Israel is the true God for He sent down fire to consume the holocaust even though it was soaked wet in water. (1 Kgs 18:20-40)
This miracle happened because of the power of Elijah’s prayer. Unlike the prophets of Baal, he did not have to cry and shout or mutilate himself to have his prayer answered. He just called upon the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel in faith. He said, “let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” (1 Kgs 18:36f) “Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord indeed is God; the Lord indeed is God.” (1 Kgs 18:38f)
Following this demonstration of the power of prayer and faith in the God of Israel, Elijah – who, at the command of the Lord, three years ago had plagued Israel with a drought (1 Kgs 17:1) – then prayed for rain, and it came almost immediately. “In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain.” (1 Kgs 18:45)
Indeed, the mighty works and miracles performed by Elijah had been recorded in the Scriptures as the book of Sirach recounts. “Has anyone reason to boast as you have – rousing a corpse from death, from Sheol by the word of the Most High; dragging kings down to destruction, and high dignitaries from their beds; hearing reproof on Sinai, and decrees of punishment on Horeb; anointing kings as avengers, and prophets to succeed you; taken up in the whirlwind of fire, in a chariot with fiery horses; designated in the prophecies of doom to ally God’s wrath before the fury breaks, to turn the hearts of father towards their children, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. Happy shall be they who see you, and those who have fallen asleep in love; for we too will have life.” Indeed, Elijah will always be remembered as a great prophet who played a very critical role in guiding the kings and the people to walk the way of the covenant. God honoured Elijah at the end of his life when he was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind, accompanied by a chariot of fire and horses. (2 Kgs 2:11-12) As he left, he also passed on a double portion of his spirit, his faith and devotion to his successor, Elisha. He “was filled with his spirit. No task was too hard for him, and even in death his body prophesied. In his lifetime he performed wonders, and in death his works were marvellous.”
In the Gospel, Jesus also taught us the power of prayer by teaching us how to pray. Clearly, for Jesus, the power of prayer does not, as Elijah had shown, consist of long prayers, cries and shouts as if God cannot hear us. Jesus reminded His disciples, “In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Effective prayer comes from a clean mind and pure heart, one that is devoted to God in faith and love. In other words, it concerns our relationship with Him. Whether our prayer is effective depends on whether we know the heart and mind of God. This is true also in daily life. If we know a person well, we will have the courage to ask the person for help and we will have faith that regardless of his or her response, it is always given in love and always for our good.
Consequently, the fundamental attitude we must hold towards God is that God is our Father. This is what the Lord asks of us when we pray to God. It is true that God is our King, almighty and omnipotent, and we are His subjects and servants. But the preferred relationship with God is that of His Fatherhood. Just as Jesus related to God as His Father and was always confident of His love and wisdom for Him, so, too, we must consider God as our Father so that we will never hesitate to come and talk to Him about everything in our life. If God is our Father, there is nothing too big or too significant for Him, just as a child would share everything about his life and his feelings with his parents. Accordingly, Jesus taught us, “So you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven.”
Following this personal and affective address of God as our Father, Jesus invites us to imitate His Father in the way we live our lives, the way we think and say and do. So, the first three petitions in the Lord’s Prayer is about how we should pray and what we should be praying for with respect to our relationship with His Father. These three petitions ask the following: “may your name be held holy, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.” To ask that His name be held holy – as in being set apart, different from others, and honoured by all – is to ask that our lives reflect His holiness, His compassion, mercy, and justice. Holiness is to be holistically integrated in our lives. So, we are asked to examine if our lives truly reflect the life of God so that people seeing how we live might give glory to God the Father as the Lord said earlier, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Mt 5:16)
The other two petitions are connected with the first; an elaboration, rather than new petitions. They spell out what it means to honour God by living the life of the Kingdom as the Lord taught His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. This Kingdom life and its fundamental principles is presented in the Beatitudes, which is the blueprint for a blessed life. In the final analysis, it is obedience to the Father’s will and wisdom as reflected in the Scriptures that will bring about His divine plan for us and for humanity. Doing His will is what makes us one with God because it means sharing His mind and heart and will.
Once our relationship with God our Father is clear with respect to our goals in life, then the second set of petitions will flow accordingly.“Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us. And do not put us to the test, but save us from the evil one.” When our relationship with God is in order, then we can be certain that God will provide us what we need, not what we desire, for He provides us our “daily” bread including our spiritual food. Most of all, knowing that we are always falling short of living the kingdom life, we are also assured of His forgiveness whenever we ask Him in repentance. It is this assurance of forgiveness over and over again that we too are called to relate with our brothers and sisters because like us, they, too, are imperfect and are sinners. We are called to support each other in faith and in life so that together, we can resist the temptations of the Evil One and walk the life of the Kingdom. As children of the same Father, we are called to love each other the way the Father has loved us. In this way, our prayer is answered perfectly because what greater joy and happiness is there in life than to be with God, through Christ and with each other in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Best Practices for Using the Daily Scripture Reflections
- Encounter God through the spirit of prayer and the scripture by reflecting and praying the Word of God daily. The purpose is to bring you to prayer and to a deeper union with the Lord on the level of the heart.
- Daily reflections when archived will lead many to accumulate all the reflections of the week and pray in one sitting. This will compromise your capacity to enter deeply into the Word of God, as the tendency is to read for knowledge rather than a prayerful reading of the Word for the purpose of developing a personal and affective relationship with the Lord.
- It is more important to pray deeply, not read widely. The current reflections of the day would be more than sufficient for anyone who wants to pray deeply and be led into an intimacy with the Lord.
Note: You may share this reflection with someone. However, please note that reflections are not archived online nor will they be available via email request.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
