20250313 EFFECTIVE PRAYER IS DEPENDENT ON OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
13 March 2025, Thursday, 1st Week of Lent
First reading | Esther 4:17 |
I am alone, Lord, and have no-one but you
Queen Esther took refuge with the Lord in the mortal peril which had overtaken her. She besought the Lord God of Israel in these words:
‘My Lord, our King, the only one,
come to my help, for I am alone
and have no helper but you
and am about to take my life in my hands.
‘I have been taught from my earliest years, in the bosom of my family,
that you, Lord, chose
Israel out of all the nations
and our ancestors out of all the people of old times
to be your heritage for ever;
and that you have treated them as you promised.
‘Remember, Lord; reveal yourself
in the time of our distress.
‘As for me, give me courage,
King of gods and master of all power.
Put persuasive words into my mouth
when I face the lion;
change his feeling into hatred for our enemy,
that the latter and all like him may be brought to their end.
‘As for ourselves, save us by your hand,
and come to my help, for I am alone
and have no one but you, Lord.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 137(138):1-3,7-8 |
On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.
I thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.
On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.
I thank you for your faithfulness and love,
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.
On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.
You stretch out your hand and save me,
your hand will do all things for me.
Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.
On the day I called, you answered me, O Lord.
Gospel Acclamation | Joel2:12-13 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Now, now – it is the Lord who speaks –
come back to me with all your heart,
for I am all tenderness and compassion.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Or: | Ps50:12,14 |
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
A pure heart create for me, O God,
and give me again the joy of your help.
Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!
Gospel | Matthew 7:7-12 |
Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. Is there a man among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
‘So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.’
EFFECTIVE PRAYER IS DEPENDENT ON OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Esther 4:17; Ps 138:1-3,7-8; Mt 7:7-12]
One of the three pillars of the Lenten spiritual exercises is prayer. When we speak of prayer, most of the time, we think of petitionary prayer. Even the scripture readings today appear to reduce prayer to merely a means by which we twist the arms of God to grant us our petitions through fasting and persistent prayer until God gives in to us, like the Unjust Judge who gave in to the widow’s demand for justice to be done. He said, “Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'” (Lk 18:5f) The first reading speaks of Queen Esther fasting with her people before going to see the King. In the gospel, the Lord said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him.” But this will make God a puny God who is only merciful and just to those who tire Him out.
On the contrary, the Lord also taught us earlier that “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Mt 6:7f) Again, He exhorts us, “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed, your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Mt 7:31-33) Seeking the Kingdom of God is to seek His will. It means that we will allow God’s will to determine our lives because His will is His wisdom. For this reason, in the Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven.” Both petitions are asking the same thing that God reigns in our lives.
In Luke’s gospel on this similar passage (Mt 7:31-33), he concluded with the saying of Jesus, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk 11:13) Indeed, this is the foundation of prayer. We need the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray because praying is fundamentally a relationship with the Lord. For this reason, we need to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit which gives us the ground for prayer. St Paul wrote, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” It is not what we say, but what is in our hearts where the heart of prayer lies. Jesus does not even need us to utter the words for God to hear but He needs us to have the right heart when we pray. It is our relationship with God that will help us to determine what to pray for and also to trust in His divine will for us. There is no question of arm-twisting or compelling God to hear our petitions but rather our seeking to understand what God is asking of us when we pray. We want to put on the mind of God so that we pray what He wants of us, not according to our will but His will.
Once we understand that the foundation of prayer is a loving and trusting relationship, then we can better explain today’s scripture texts in context. When Queen Esther fasted, it was not a means to force God to answer her prayer. Fasting always precedes effective prayer because fasting reminds us that we are totally dependent on God and not ourselves. In the case of Queen Esther, she was really in peril because either way, she would lose her life if the King did not forgive her for entering into his presence without him calling her to come; or if she did not take the courage to see the King without his permission, her people would all be put to death. So whichever way she decided, it could cost her, her life. She was completely helpless and she depended on God’s grace and mercy. Fasting in prayer is but a sign of her total surrender to the Lord in trust and confidence. As she said, “My Lord, our King, the only one, come to my help, for I am alone and have no helper … save us by your hand, and come to my help, for I am alone and have no one but you, Lord.”
The prayer that Queen Esther prayed is to be seen in the context of her deep faith and relationship with God. She spoke to God as His child and dependent on Him. Her prayer expressed her and her people’s relationship with God and God’s promises to her people. “I have been taught from my earliest years, in the bosom of my family, that you, Lord, chose Israel out of all the nations and our ancestors out of all the people of old times to be your heritage for ever; and that you have treated them as you promised.” Indeed, if Queen Esther could trust in God, it was because Israel’s relationship with God was a special one. She believed that God had chosen her nation to be His heritage. She knew that God would be faithful to them. So, she asked for courage to face the King. “As for me, give me courage, King of Gods and master of all power. Put persuasive words into my mouth when I face the lion.”
Similarly, in the gospel, Jesus asked three questions which had to do with one’s relationship with God. He said, “Is there a man among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or would hand him a snake when he asked for a fish? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Truly, what kind of father would give his son a stone when he asked for bread? That father must have been heartless to give his hungry son a stone. But why a stone? Because in the desert, when one is hungry, the stone looks like the bread that they baked. Again, why would a good father hand over a snake to his son when he asked for a fish? Certainly, no good father would do that to harm his son. So, the conclusion is simple, no good father would do that to his children.
Now this is the point; if we have a real relationship with God and we see God as our father, would we doubt His wisdom and His love for us? Would we doubt His protection and provision for all our needs? If our relationship with God is that of a father and son, then like little children, we will have confidence in Him. This is why Jesus said, if we want to enter the kingdom of God, we must become like little children, trusting in Him and relying on Him. (cf Mt 18:3) If we doubt God, it simply means that we do not have a real relationship with Him. Most of us do not doubt our good friends when we need them. But then even friends, no matter how good they are and how much they love us, have their limitations. They cannot be there for us at all times. But God is able to. This is provided we know that God is truly our Abba Father and when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, saying “Our Father” we mean what we say and not merely utter the word.
This is the reason why among all the prayers, we must pray for the Holy Spirit as St Paul urges us. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ – if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” (Rom 8:14-17) Indeed, in Christ through the Holy Spirit, we share in His divine sonship and in His glory.
Finally, the gospel ends with the famous golden principle. “So always treat others as you would like them to treat you; that is the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus reminds us of this golden principle, which is again derived from our common brotherhood when we say that God is our Father. If God is the Father of us all, then we would want to treat all with charity, justice and love. We would not want to hurt each other or be unjust to each other. Hence, true prayer, which is our relationship with God will lead to trust in His divine wisdom, in seeking to do His will, and most of all, through fasting and prayer, it will lead us to be charitable, forgiving and just towards our brothers and sisters.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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