Prayer Is Music To God's Ears

𝐉𝐔𝐍𝐄 𝟏𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫 𝟏𝟏:𝟏-𝟏𝟏

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟏𝟏:𝟏-𝟒, 𝟕-𝟖 “𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐎 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟔:𝟕-𝟏𝟓

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔… 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖.” (𝒗.14) 

          As we step deeper into this Liturgical Season that we call as the Ordinary Time, we see Jesus telling his disciples the kind of discipline that they need to put in whenever they pray and he lays down the foundation that should provide us with the right atmosphere for prayer.

         Jesus begins by stressing that prayer must be seen and heard primarily by God and God alone and not by man for it is God who is the object of our prayers. In the same way, we should not look at prayer as a duty or as an obligation, but prayer must come from the disposition of our hearts as an act of humility through which we can obtain God’s mercy and favor.

         When and where to pray is unimportant and we should deviate from the common practice that prayer is efficacious when said inside the Church, chapel or similar edifices or places where God seems to be present and or confined to certain sacred places which might lead us to forget that the whole world is the temple of God.

         But even during the time of Jesus, the wisest among the Rabbis already felt the danger of this practice of praying only in the synagogue which was why some of them also advised the people saying: “𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺; 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥; 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦; 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘥; 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭.”

         Praying to be seen by men was what Jesus pointed out in this Gospel passage for today and he gave his disciples two important guidelines for prayer. One is that prayer must be offered to God which means that whether in public or in private prayer, we should have no other thought in mind and desire in our hearts but to offer our prayers to God.

         The other rule to remember is that the God to whom we pray is a God of love who is more than willing to answer our prayers when done in utter humility and sincerity. In praying, we should remember that we don’t need to cajole, batter or pester God into answering our prayers because we have a God whose very nature is to give.

         What we should keep in mind is that we must come to God with these words written on our lips: “𝑻𝒉𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆” because at the end of the day it is his Will alone that matters.

         As we go to the main message of this passage the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, we need to spend time reflecting on this prayer to be able to grasp its meaning. And while the Church has adopted this prayer to become the Lord’s Prayer that every believer young and old should pray, the Lord’s Prayer is, for all intents and purposes, a prayer that only a disciple can pray because it is a prayer that only one who is committed to Jesus Christ can utter with his lips.

         Simply put, the Lord’s Prayer can only be prayed when we who pray it know what we are saying and an average person won’t be able to grasp what this prayer really means unless that person enters into discipleship.

         The whole point of this Gospel today is that prayer is our lifeline to God. Prayer establishes a connection with God and it’s like there is an imaginary path that we can tread leading to the Kingdom of God. Prayer is in fact entering into a conversation with God and the Lord’s Prayer brings us to the very presence of God.

         The first three petitions are directed to the glory of God whereas the second three petitions pertain to our needs. The second part of the prayer deals with the three essential needs of men. First, it asks for bread that is necessary for our daily sustenance. It also asks for forgiveness that brings our past before God, and it also seeks the help of God to keep us free from temptation as we commit our future into the hands of God. In these three petitions, Jesus is teaching us to present before God the present, the past and, the future before the footstool of the God’s Grace.

         Thus, prayer is an elevation of our hearts to God, and we must find a way that will allow us to direct all the powers of our souls to God. The mere thought of God is not a prayer because the devils also think of God, but they do not pray to Him. So, when we pray, we must commune with him and shut ourselves from the world around us and take delight only in the presence of the Almighty God.

         In today’s Gospel, Jesus said: “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚, 𝒔𝒂𝒚: 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.2) The 𝑪𝑪𝑪 2787 also says that: “𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚 ‘𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓’ 𝒘𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒉𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕: 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 “𝒉𝒊𝒔” 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉 “𝒐𝒖𝒓” 𝑮𝒐𝒅. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓: 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 “𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒉” 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔.”        

         Thus, 𝐒𝐭. 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦 said that “𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐇𝐢𝐦, 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲.”        

         While there is also no doubt that we can obtain all things from God through prayer, we must also be resigned to God’s will: “𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆.” (𝑳𝒌 22:42) We must all remember that our prayers are never in vain, but the time and manner of its fulfillment lie in the hands of God which means that everything depends upon the will of God.

         With this prayer Jesus makes forgiveness the cornerstone of our relationship with God. As God has forgiven our sins, we too are also obliged to forgive those who may have wronged us without conditions. To persist in unforgiveness means that we do not understand what we pray.

         As 𝑺𝒕. 𝑨𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒔 once said: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅.” Thus, failure to pray is the first step to unbelief and, eventually to hell. “𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔.” (𝑺𝒕. 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎) because prayer unites the created with His Creator. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘯𝘦 19, 2025)