Prayer Is Direct Access to God And More

If you have ever taken care of an elderly parent or relative and you oversee their doctor appointments and insurance plans etc…you will agree with me that, one of the hardest things to navigate is the world of healthcare. Finding direct access to a physician or good medical care can be a nightmare, and ‘direct access’ can be everything!  How many doors one has to knock on to find the right solution. Long hours on telephone calls and nobody calling you back (as we see with many things today).
 
What are some things you have experienced in your life and because of direct access, it has been easier? Direct access to the person who gets things done? To the right office?
 
What is prayer? Prayer is how we have direct access to God and more. Prayer is ‘direct access’ to God.
 
Abraham is a man of prayer, therefore a Man who has direct access to God. His relationship with God is so solid, he is a ‘confidant’ of God. (Confidant means direct access and more!!). He knows God’s plans for Sodom and Gomorrah before they even take place. Hence, he nears God and intercedes for his people:
 

"Will you sweep away the innocent with the guilty?
Suppose there were fifty innocent people in the city;
would you wipe out the place, rather than spare it
for the sake of the fifty innocent people within it?

The LORD replied,
"If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom,
I will spare the whole place for their sake.

 
Abraham bargains all the way down to ten. Even more important is how prayer totally changes the perception of who God is. Too often Yahweh is thought of as cold, aloof, impersonal, tucked away from the real world of our problems. The persistent and honest prayer of Abraham reveals that this is not true.  The deeper that prayer, the more we see the generosity of God, a generosity of mercy, compassion and forgiveness. 
 
Hence prayer (the consistent and innocent presentation of ourselves before God, ‘makes’ God take on our own concerns and interests and his own and so he acts on them. This is what ‘direct accesses will do for you.

So the challenge of the reading is: Pray, pray, pray. Do not give up on prayer.
 

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1-2)

What does Jesus’ prayer reveal? The ‘Our Father’, reveals that the Father is real and cares for the Son, so that the son’s every care and concern becomes the care and concern of the Father. Jesus knows no matter what, that he would get a hearing with the Father.  Every need, disappointment, tragedy, joy, accomplishment of the Son is shared with the Father who will not disappoint. He will make a difference. To pray is direct access and more. To pray means being part of the family. Every one of mine is yours and yours is mine.
 
What is the deep meaning of the parable of the friend at midnight, who has his prayer answered because of his persistence and shamelessness? If a friend can respond in this way, how much more will God do?
 
Prayer is not a waste of time. Prayer gives direct access to God and more. Prayer yields for us the unseen bounty of God’s generosity.
 
Are you a parent?  Neglect not prayer as a family. The father will involve himself in your concerns just as he did for his son.
 
Frustrated, anxious and despairing? Learn to pray, for God will tune into what seems to be your shaky world. If God saw His son through the ordeal of his passion, he will respond to your needs and more.
 
The Eucharist reflects the ordeal of Jesus in the supreme crisis of his life. The Eucharist also reflects the sustaining power of the Father in answer to his prayer. To eat and drink with Jesus is to continue to be part of Jesus' prayer and benefit of the Father’s reply. A Father who knows what we truly need.
 
So, today we, like the disciples, ask the Lord to even now, ‘teach us how to pray’.

Fr. Anthony Mpagi,
Pastor of Our Lady of Hope