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Unleash the Power of Your Inner Mustard Seed: 10 Ways to Boost Your Prayer Life

1/1/2014

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We often pray half-heartedly, with an ‘I hope God’s listening but He probably isn’t’ attitude.

Frequently prayer is our last resort: all else has failed and we feel that ‘it can’t hurt to throw up a petition to heaven.’ There’s no real conviction behind our words. So how can we expect our prayers to be answered?

It says in the Gospel of Matthew (17:20 New Living Translation) "You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."

Here are 10 ways to nurture that tiny seed of faith inside you and unleash the power of your prayers.

1.      Desire the Right Things 

If we want God to listen to our prayers, our requests mustn’t be un-Christian and selfish. As Albert Benjamin Simpson said:  “We cannot ask in behalf of Christ what Christ would not ask Himself if He were praying.”

We must genuinely desire our own good and the good of others. To do this we have to give up our own will - the hardest Christian virtue of all. Here’s a great quote from Alan Redpath: “Before we can pray, "Lord, Thy Kingdom come," we must be willing to pray, "My Kingdom go."  

God knows what we need, and desires to give it to us, if we’re willing to leave our egos behind when we pray.

2.      Believe and You Will Receive

Evan Roberts sums up exactly how I feel before God on so many occasions when I am tempted to doubt that he will answer my prayers:

‘Over and over again I am ashamed of myself for ever doubting that God is listening to my prayers. I have so many instances of seemingly hopeless situations where He showed me, yet again, that He is walking with me and ‘all things are possible with Him.’

I have three recent examples of seemingly hopeless situations when God answered my prayers. Twice I prayed for another’s good and once for mine, believing that God would grant my requests. He didn’t let me down.

"God does nothing except in response to believing prayer."  John Wesley

 3.      Be Persistent: Pray Daily

Don’t be one of those people who only pray when things go wrong or when they want something.

“Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble: prayer is a life attitude.” Walter A. Mueller

Make prayer a daily habit. First, praise God and thank Him for the good things in your life. Ask how you can glorify Him through your actions during this day, and only add your petitions at the end of your prayer sessions.

As long as your request fits the criterion of being right, pray for it with perseverance and patience.

St. Paul also exhorts us to “pray without ceasing.” (Thessalonians 5:17 New Living Translation)

Don’t expect an immediate response: God’s timing is not our timing.

4.      Defy the Devil 

Daily prayer will strengthen you as a Christian.  You will badly need to be strong, because the devil will go after you big time when he sees what you’re up to.

“No one is a firmer believer in the power of prayer than the devil; not that he practices it, but he suffers from it.” Guy H. King, Baptist Minister

He’ll tell you God isn’t listening, that God won’t mind if you skip your prayers tonight – anything to make you cease talking to Him. When you feel Satan coming at you, take heart: your prayers are working, otherwise he wouldn’t feel the need to dissuade you from talking to God.

Don’t let the devil prevent you from persistent prayer.

5.      Pray Even When You Don’t Feel Like It.

Sometimes you don’t feel all fired up about chatting to God, or you don’t know what to say.

Yet make yourself pray every day, whether or not you’re in the mood: God will appreciate your efforts.

This article “But I Don’t Feel Like Praying” may help you.

Or watch this short video of St. Josemaria Escriva explaining the benefits of praying when you don’t feel like it. He tells us that in praying when we find it difficult, we are offering a sacrifice to God which 'bears much fruit.'

6.      Don’t Test God 

Don’t demand that your prayers be answered, or else you’ll refuse to believe in God.

“Some people think that prayer just means asking for things, and if they fail to receive exactly what they asked for, they think the whole thing is a fraud.” Gerald Vann

Remember Christ’s words to Thomas:  "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me." John 20:29

We cannot pray in the spirit of testing God. He won’t be impressed.

7.      Be in Good Standing with Your Neighbor

If you bear anyone ill-will and have not forgiven those who’ve trespassed against you, don’t expect God to listen to your prayers.

“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.”(Matthew 5:23-24 New Living Translation)

Before you put your personal petitions before God, pray for your enemies and wish well on them. Forgive them in your heart, and wish good things to befall them.

8.      Concentrate

Pray somewhere quiet, where you can avoid the distractions of daily life.  “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46: 10a) and listen to the whisper of His voice.

Give Him your full attention while you converse with Him. Ignore those annoying, clamoring voices in your head and allow Christ’s peace to flow into you.

Here’s a very short video which makes this point (the ads are fun but you can skip them!).

This is not easy. For example, I pray a lot while I’m driving. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

9.      Structure Your Prayer Time

We are creatures of habit who thrive on routine, and it's beneficial to apply this principle to our prayer life.

Set aside the same time every day for prayer, when you can. But don’t launch immediately into your list of woes when you talk to Him.

1.      Begin by glorifying God and naming the graces He’s bestowed on you.

2.      Then give Him thanks for everything He has done for you.

3.      When you’ve done this, you’ll feel a lot less whiny and now is a good time to put your petitions to Him.

An additional benefit of this method is that it provides a useful 'template' when praying is difficult. It also ensures that you don’t forget to give Him His due every day, in addition to your supplications.

10. Pray the Rosary

It is impossible to underestimate the power of praying the Rosary.

As Catholics we believe that the Mother of Jesus is our mother, too. She brings our petitions to her Son, Who cannot refuse her.  She has frequently asked us to pray the Rosary during her numerous appearances.

The devil hates the Rosary, it is one of our most powerful weapons against him. Our Lady crushes the serpent Satan beneath her feet with the aid of our prayers.

As Our Lady said to the children of Medjugorje on February 25, 1988:

“Therefore, little children, do not be afraid. If you pray, Satan cannot injure you even a little, because you are God’s children and He is watching over you. Pray, and let the Rosary always be in your hands as a sign to Satan that you belong to me…”


Christ was frustrated with His disciples for their lack of faith, and told them that they had only to ask and they would receive. He wants to give us so much, if only we would ask properly!

Incorporate the above 10 principles into your prayers, and you will greatly improve the quality of your conversations with God.

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Anger Management with St Bridget

8/21/2012

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Anger with each other is a waste of energy - and lonely, too.
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A harmonious relationship is much nicer than holding grudges!
A truly wonderful lady where I volunteer once a week, who has become my spiritual mentor/supporter, gave me a little booklet called “The Pieta Prayer Book.” It contains a vast number of terrific prayers, one of which I began praying daily.

The Anger

One evening my husband said something really hurtful to me. I spat some suitably angry remark back at him then stormed off.

Just to ‘show him’ I grabbed a pillow and blanket from our bedroom, and resolved to sleep in the spare room, perfectly happy to let the sun go down on my anger.

Before laying down my resentful head, I sat down in my usual spot and began to read my daily prayers.

They are the Fifteen St. Bridget Prayers.

Our Lord appeared to St. Bridget of Sweden and told her that she would have honored each of His wounds if she recited the above prayers daily for a whole year.

There are also 21 St. Bridget Promises, traditionally associated with her prayers. You will find them at the end of the page I've linked. There is some confusion here. The booklet states that their supernatural origin has not been proved, and they are not covered by an imprimatur, whereas Bill Richer states at the end of the list of promises that they are covered by two imprimaturs.

Regardless, God will grant anything we ask Him, if it be consistent with His will. Matthew 21:22: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”

The Management

The prayers take about fifteen minutes to say properly, without rushing. So I settled into my chair and focussed on the words looking at me from the page.

They dwell on the suffering Christ endured before and during his Passion. I read of His being nailed to the Cross with big, blunt nails, being stretched out and pulled from all sides, and having His limbs dislocated. Yet He was able to forget His sufferings and pray instead for His enemies, saying: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

After fifteen minutes of immersion in the acute suffering of Our Savior, I felt really embarrassed about wanting to sleep in the spare room because of one hurtful comment. If Christ could go through all that agony for my sake, maybe I could swallow my pride and abandon my foolishness?

At least I hadn’t yet told my husband that I was slinking off in anger and was saved from having to take back those words!

The St. Bridget prayers proved so useful that day. They were long enough to give me time to simmer down, and described Christ’s sufferings in sufficiently graphic detail to put my own in perspective.

I highly recommend these prayers for those times when you feel a festering resentment towards someone and want to get even. They really work! Pray them with real fervor and you'll get a sense of peace and reconciliation.

 











Epilogue: Value of Suffering


As Bill Richer writes, below the prayers on that linked page:  "With your sufferings, others who would ordinarily not be saved will be saved!"’

None of us enjoys our sufferings, but by offering them up for the salvation of souls, we can use them for good and rejoice in being able to do so.


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The Miraculous Mother

3/16/2012

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On January 13th my mother was found in her house by a concerned friend, who called in the police to break down the door. She had been lying downstairs for approximately three days, after suffering a stroke.

Mother lives in a different state from me, and we don’t phone each other that often. It’s that way with all my English family members – we simply don’t chat to each other except when we really have something to say.

So it was lucky the friend was trying to contact her, and became concerned when there was no answer.

Death’s Door?

I worried that my mother might be close to death and I feared for her salvation, as she had left the Church many decades ago. Worse, she was very anti-Catholic, hated the English Mass, ("it should have stayed in Latin") and had a grudge against priests and God.

None of which bode well for her making it to Heaven!

Intercession is at Hand


So before I flew over to visit her in hospital, I told my parish priest of my anxiety.
 
He gave me the relic of someone I’d never heard of before. It was a piece of the veil of Mother Therese of Jesus inside a tiny plastic case, which included a photo of the nun and the words of a novena.

“She is up for canonization,” Father said. “Pray this novena to her, and if it works, return the relic to me.”

No Pressure, Then!

The novena now had to work for two reasons: first, because I wanted Mother reconciled to God, and second, I wanted to help Mother Therese become canonized!

Before my flight, I emailed the novena to a Catholic friend of mine who had offered to pray it for my mother, too. Thank goodness I did, because two days into my trip I somehow mislaid the relic. At least I had a copy of the prayer and could continue with the novena, even if I no longer had the piece of veil.

But I now found myself in a difficult position: if the relic worked, I had to return it. But since I’d lost it, I couldn’t give it back. So was I supposed to hope it wouldn’t work, so that I didn’t have to return it?!

Reading about her life, it’s clear that Mother Therese had a great sense of humor, and she must have appreciated my ridiculous dilemma. I can still see her smiling.

Even after the nine days were up I continued to pray the words of the novena daily to her.

Embarrassing Confession

I flew home, and soon afterwards went out to dinner with my husband and son to a local restaurant. As we were walking back to our car, my husband said, “There’s Father!”

I had been dreading telling him about the missing relic, but here was a God-given opportunity to get the confession over with. I said a quick ‘hello,’ then blurted out “I’ve lost the icon!”

He looked a bit confused then said, “You mean the relic?”

I nodded miserably, and he continued, “Then ask Mother Therese to help you find it. I’m sure she will.” I had to admire his fortitude.

My Birthday Present 
 

On my birthday I received an email from a Catholic friend of Mother’s, after visiting her in rehabilitation. She had taken a rosary in with her and placed it round my mother’s neck, then asked Mother if she was interested in seeing a priest?

Mother nodded and asked to see her friend’s parish priest, whom she had already met. Ecstatic, the friend called Father Eric.

What a birthday present for me that email was!

The Miracle

The following day, Father Eric came to see my mother. She received the Last Sacrament - now called the Anointing of the Sick - and Final Absolution.
 
Alleluia! I have wanted this for her salvation for decades.
 
Once I got over the shock of my prayers' success, I felt a sense of profound peace. A soul saved! What a miracle!

It took an incapacitating stroke for my mother to reflect on the world to come and the importance of being reconciled with God.

I’ve since been out to see her again, and she was so proud to let me know that she goes to Mass whenever it is offered in her place of rehabilitation (which is Lutheran) and she also goes to Vespers when it is available.

Thank You, Mother Therese of Jesus!

I have emailed the nuns at Mother Therese’s Carmelite convent in Pennsylvania letting them know about the miracle their deceased Mother Superior has brought about.
 
I do hope it furthers that lovely lady’s cause. When she was exhumed in 2001, they discovered her body was still intact. This has happened with several saints in Europe but is apparently very rare in the U.S.

The Power of Prayer

I put all the confidence in God that I could muster into praying that novena. I had been worried about Mother’s soul for so long, and had to do something to save it: time was running out.
 
With Mother Therese’s help, and using Mother’s friend as His instrument, God gave me my miracle. It just goes to show how powerful prayers can be, if sent up with true confidence in God’s help.
 
P.S. I’ve also asked the Carmelite nuns if there’s any chance of a replacement relic for me to return to my parish priest. Wish me luck!

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    Hilary Walker

    A fanatic horse rider and writer of Christian Inspirational Fiction, who's beginning to understand that making it to Heaven is a tad more important than winning at horse shows.

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