HOMILY OF THURSDAY 11TH WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME – YEAR B
HOMILY THEME: THE RIGHT WAY TO PRAY
BY: Fr. Karabari Paul
Ecclesiasticus 48:1-15; Psalm 96(97): 1-7; Matt 6: 7 – 15
‘In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do.’
The teaching of Jesus about prayer in the Gospel of today (Matt.6:7-15) is significant: ‘In praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; they think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.’ This means that prayer shouldn’t be a theatrical production but heartfelt. It should be between you and God. Even when it is verbal, it must come from the heart.
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God loves it when we come to Him in prayer. It’s an opportunity for us to share our concerns, listen to His voice, and connect with Him on a deeper level. But sometimes we pray for all the wrong reasons and in the wrong way. We can find ourselves praying in order to show other people how holy we are. We reel off long, wordy prayers, which make us look and feel superior to others.
We need to be coming to God with humility and expectancy. And we need to make sure we are coming to God with the right motive – to spend time with Him. The reason you pray is much more important than the words you say. The motive is the why behind the what. Having a pure heart that loves God and loves people is always acceptable to the Lord. On the other hand, selfishness is unacceptable, revenge is unacceptable, manipulation and control are unacceptable, jealousy is unacceptable, pride is unacceptable, and praying to win the lottery is unacceptable. In fact, anything that’s selfishly based is an unacceptable motive.
Somebody once asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night. He thought about it for a second and replied, ‘No, some nights I don’t need anything.’ Sound familiar? The first and foremost reason for prayer is to develop an intimate relationship with God. Think about it: How long do you think your marriage would last if you only came home to see your spouse when you needed clean laundry, a good meal, and a little loving? Not very long, right? The same principle applies to prayer. Jesus said, ‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you’ (John 15:7).
When you focus on ‘abiding’ in Christ, you will get a response to your ‘asking’. James writes, ‘Your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons’ (James 4:3). The truth is, we’re innately self-centred. That’s why we need to purify our hearts on a regular basis, and that calls for examining our motives. It may be painful at first, but you must do it if you want to see your prayers answered. GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE. May God have mercy on us, heal our country, Nigeria, bless and protect us all through Christ, our Lord Amen. Good morning.
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