Managing Power in Weakness 

How much confidence do you have in prayer to accomplish anything? How much time do you give to intercessory prayer (the “prayer of asking”)? Do you consider prayer a “last resort,” as when people say, “There’s nothing to do now but pray.”?  

Exodus 17: 8-13 makes the point that human power unsupported by God is not power at all. In the story, whenever Moses kept his arms outstretched in prayer, the Jews had the upper hand in their battle. This was a visible sign, visible proof, of power and protection that we need to believe in now, with or without signs that are visible.  

The truth is that when we pray, God helps us—always. It may not be in a way we can see, or in the way we desire or expect, but it will always happen.  

The greatest test of our faith and hope in God—and their greatest vindication—came in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. On “that day,” God apparently abandoned Jesus to his enemies. He was visibly defeated and destroyed. He was dead. But when he rose up from death, it was proven forever that indeed “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” No human power prevails over God. God has no more need to prove it by visible signs and wonders. 

The visible proof of Jesus’ resurrection is his evident living presence in us — revealed when we act in ways that cannot be explained except by the presence and power of divine faith, divine hope, and divine love in our hearts. The victories God is winning today are all contained in the one and final victory Jesus won over sin and death on the cross. By “dying, he destroyed our death; by rising, he restored our life.” His victory over death was also a victory over sin and the power sin has over us. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus was able to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.” (See Hebrews 2: 14-15) 

We who have no fear of death have no need to win battles or riches, or power, or anything else earth has to offer:  

Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. (Philippians 3: 20-21) 

Our focus is on the “end time,” when Christ will come again in triumph and glory. Until then, all our concern is to be “faithful stewards,” working to establish his reign over all the earth. And for this, we rely on the power of God. Our evident helplessness in the face of human resistance to God’s reign leaves us no choice but to pray. “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121) 

Initiative: Each time you feel anxious about something, think of 1. God’s power; 2. his presence within you; 3. his love. Then ask him to help you. 

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings, Lectionary #147, on the USCCB website here

Fr. David M. Knight (1931-2021) was a priest of the Diocese of Memphis in Tennessee, a prolific writer, and a highly sought after confessor, spiritual director, and retreat master. He authored more than 40 books and hundreds of articles that focus primarily on lay spirituality and life-long spiritual growth.