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Writer's pictureImmersed in Christ

Prayer: The Response to Discouragement

by Fr. David M. Knight



Thursday, October 31, 2024

Thirtieth Week of the Year

Eph 6:10-20/Lk 13:31-35 (Lectionary 482)

 

Ephesians 6:10-20: “Draw your strength from the Lord and his mighty power.” Paul must have known how hard it would be even for believers to grasp his vision of the Church: of themselves as the “body of Christ,” living God’s divine life by the presence of the Spirit within them. And, having grasped it, what hope did they have of living it: of actually speaking and acting on the level of God? Paul himself said:

 

I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.... I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind.... Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:19-24)

 

His answer, of course, is “Christ.”

 

We are fighting against more than the “flesh”: our natural physical appetites, and the emotions, inclinations, compulsions and prejudices programmed into us by our culture.

 

Our battle ultimately is not against flesh and blood (human forces) but against the principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, the evil spirits.

 

We should not judge things as if we were on a level playing field. Or as if all we had to overcome was normal human resistance—in ourselves and in others. So we should not be discouraged if human means don’t “work.” We need to call on God active within us, “put on the armor of God.” Our defense is not our intelligence and strength, but the truth we see by the divine light of faith, and the “righteousness of God” that became ours through dying and rising in Christ. Our readiness (preparedness; what makes us able and willing to move) is the “Good News of peace” we must announce. This is what “urges us on.” And our “weapon” is the “sword of the spirit, the word of God.” These more than level the playing field.

 

Our response to discouragement and challenge is to pray: “At every opportunity pray in the spirit.... Pray constantly and attentively for all in the holy company.” Pray for those doing good work and bad. Pray for those who are faithful and unfaithful. Pray for those betraying us to the enemy. Pray that “our faith will not fail.” Don’t ever, ever “leave God out of the act.”

 

Above all pray for the final victory, for the Bread and the Banquet: , as you do eachday in the Our Father, “Give us this day... and forgive us as we....”

 

Luke 13:31-35: The Pharisees tried to scare Jesus off. It didn’t work. Jesus knew he was going to die, but in God’s time. He handled that with the Father: “Thy will be done!

 

Initiative: Pray without ceasing.



Reflections brought to you by the Immersed in Christ Ministry




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