{"id":6483,"date":"2020-06-14T12:51:52","date_gmt":"2020-06-14T02:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/?p=6483"},"modified":"2020-06-21T17:32:09","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T07:32:09","slug":"prayers-that-move-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/prayers-that-move-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayer that Moves Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Yacoub Magdy<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Passage Luke\n11:1-13, Psalm 143:10,8<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the blessings of our church is that every liturgy has a special meaning for each of us personally. It would be a shame if we didn\u2019t search out this message from God from day to day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message\nfrom the gospel of today is that prayers are answered. St Luke starts the\nnarrative with a question the disciples ask of Christ. They have seen Him\npraying on a number of occasions already now and this moved theirs hearts. They\nask Him, \u201cLord, teach us to pray, as John\nalso taught his disciples.\u201d \u2013 <\/em>Like 11:1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus gave them a model of prayer. The beauty of the Lord\u2019s prayer is that it starts with, \u201cOur Father.<\/em>\u201d He encourages them to call Him, Father. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not many people appreciate this or understand fully. Those that convert to Chrisitianity from a different religion have an unique appreciation of calling God, Father. The Creator of all wants us to call Him Father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 In the book, \u201cI dared to call Him Father<\/a>,\u201d it took tremendous courage to call our Lord, Father. When I think about it, who am I to call Him Father? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the\ncornerstone to how we come to God with prayers answered. Jesus gives His\ndisciples examples of persistence in prayer. When you pray, don\u2019t stop until\nyou receive. This is the treasure and beauty we can have as Christians – as\nchildren of the Almighty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a judge\ntells you lodge an appeal and I\u2019ll support you. You have tremendous confidence that\nyour appeal will be received because of the support you have from the judge.\nThe One that answers prayer is telling us to ask, to seek, to knock, and He is\nthe One that will answer us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a\nfamous comment of Pope Kyrillos from those who knew him well, \u201cwhatever God can do, prayer can do.\u201d <\/em>Prayer\nelevates our capabilities to God\u2019s level. We can move the hand of God through\nour prayers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

St Basilios once said, \u201cpeople climb and when they are two steps away from the top, they return back.\u201d<\/em> When you have something you need from God, don\u2019t stop until you hear His answer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him<\/em>!<\/p>Luke 11:13<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We, being\nnormal people, with our limitations, would give to a friend in need. When a\nchild asks for something, a parent rushes to give it to them straight away. God\nis our Father, and responds in the same way, if not, more. Each word is a step\ntoward perseverance. Ask. Seek. Knock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first\nlevel is easy, you ask from what you want. The next is a bit more difficult\nbecause you start seeking it out. The final level is the height of persistence\nwhen you knock, and keep knocking until the door is opened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is how\nwe approach God. Not to ask our request over and over again, God knows our\nneeds, but if you have something at your work, home, health, with your\nchildren, God knows your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As His child, God can never let us down. If the gospel is ever unclear, we have a Psalm attached for clarity. The fathers that put together the gospels hint toward the meaning by choice of psalms. The Psalm attached read;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead me in the land of uprightness. For in You do I trust<\/em><\/p>Psalm 143:10, 8.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

I cannot trust God if I am not on the path of righteousness. St Isaac the Syrian once said, \u201cThe trust of the beggar compels the giver<\/em>.<\/strong>\u201d When you approach God, knowing He is all-capable yet all knowing, this confidence shines through your prayers. It is not a matter of, \u201cGod, can You help?\u201d but \u201cGod, I know You can help, but let it be according to Your will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You cannot\nlet someone down that comes to you in full assurance and trust. My conscious tells\nme that I won\u2019t be let down. If you work for an honourable boss, you never think\nthat he won\u2019t pay your due wages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I am on the path of righteousness, I trust that I won\u2019t be let down. This trust compels the Lord to give me. The beggar\u2019s trust forces the giver to give. There is so much power given to the one that trusts God. It is available to us all, Fr Makary Younan says, \u201cmy hand can\u2019t move a mountain, but my prayer can move the Hand of God that moves mountains.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recall a\nstory when I was asked to speak to the youth about the consequences of purity.\nAt the end of the talk, I left them with a challenge. The challenge was to\nspend six weeks (forty days) in complete purity, without a hint of impurity, no\nscreens or looking twice at temptation. A period of six weeks is typically how\nlong it takes to form a habit, so if they were motivated for this time, they\ncould conquer any bad habits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the\nyouth was very afraid of failing a certain subject at university but upon\nhearing this challenge, he called upon the Lord to help him pass his subject if\nhe maintained his purity. His confession father later told me this story because\nnot only had he passed but he received a high distinction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I bow to temptation, I miss the point of my prayers, I forget the Lord and His promises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMoses and Aaron were among His priests,<\/em> And Samuel was among those who called upon His name;<\/em> They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.<\/em> He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar;<\/em> They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.\u201d <\/em><\/p>Psalm 99:6-7<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

 It is all in our hands.  Ask, seek, knock. We have to be His sons and\ndaughters by first acting in such a way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr Daoud Lamei says while you are absent minded, see where your thoughts catch you. Is it God and His Name? Do we long to spend time with Him? Or is getting even, sexual desires, revenge? If this is the case, wee are excluding ourselves from sonhood. If you belong to God, you are implanted in Him, ask and you will receive. Your rank will intercede on you. Let God say this is My son or daughter. Wear this title with honour and then you have nothing to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u26f0 Full Sermon <\/a>\u26f0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Yacoub Magdy Passage Luke 11:1-13, Psalm 143:10,8 One of the blessings of our church is that every liturgy has a special meaning for each of us personally. It would be a shame if we didn\u2019t search out this message from God from day to day. The message from the … Continue reading “Prayer that Moves Mountains”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6485,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[345,343,341,35,344],"class_list":["post-6483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-children","tag-knock","tag-persistence","tag-prayer","tag-sonhood"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6483"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6512,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6483\/revisions\/6512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}