A Priest's Address - On Prayer

[Iudaes 1095]

 

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A Priest’s Address

On Prayer

 

Scribed by

Father Manfried

Helena Diocese

 

Owyn’s Light

1773

 

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Section I - Introduction

Section II - Advantages of Prayer

Section III - Disadvantages of Prayer

Section IV - Conclusion

 

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|Section I|

 

It is by the blessing of our Lord on high that we His devoted flock are given a line of communication with God. As if a dove delivers our prayers to the Seventh Sky, they ascend up to the heavens, reaching God’s ear. As He hears our words, our pleas to Him, the Almighty Lord is bestowed our prayers and in return we hear not His words but feel His blessings. He on high does not whisper in our ears. Nay, in the place of words, we feel His light. The warmth of His love and so are we wrapped in a blanket of His blessings, comforted by the knowledge that He hears our inquiries, our confessions. Our pleas and our thanks. Prayer is a blessing imparted to us upon our entry into the brotherhood of the Church, a right gifted to the faithful upon the first Sacrament. Rightfully so is this right imparted upon the faithful as how can one truly connect with God when his voice cannot ascend to Godani himself. 

 

It is imperative to one’s mission under God to pray, lest one neglect the fulfillment of their duties. A man or woman of faith must offer their  time to God and while one must do this through hearing the words of the Church, confessing their sins, abiding by the teachings of God, among other things, it is also important to pray to God. To create a connection with thy Lord. Within this Address, I shall outline both the advantages and disadvantages of prayer. While I vehemently denounce any statements that prayer is inherently negative, it is by the nature of the mortal soul that prayer can be corrupted and this is something of which those devout in God’s word must avoid.

 

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|Section II|

 

Prayer is a fruitful process. Like a tree that bears many fruits, so too does prayer bear many advantages and ones that should be made of use by the faithful. The most common motive for prayer is crisis. When one is experiencing a personal crisis or a widespread issue, it is common for the devoted servants of God to cry out to Him for help and beseech Him with inquiries on problems around oneself or pleas for protection, wisdom, strength, and other such blessings. I have found myself as others in dark times throughout my life. Through hardship, one can find great solace in prayer and comfort in the fact that you are loved by God and your questions and requests are heard. 

 

One of the most important and useful advantages to prayer I find is not blessings that God offers you or not in a traditional sense at the very least. While through prayer, Our Lord can certainly bestow unto you blessings, He can also shine His light on the blessings you already possess. When in a dark state of mind, it is common for our vision to be clouded. I do not speak about our actual vision of course but our spiritual vision. Our eyes used to see such things as blessings and love which at times are both not tangible things but concepts. 

 

With His light, so too does His hand swat away at the smog which blocks your vision and enlightens you in this manner on what you do have. For instance, when one feels disadvantaged and beseeches Godani for more, He on high may instead turn your head to what you do have and ensure that you appreciate these blessings. Another example is perhaps you feel unloved by your kin. Perhaps this is untrue and then God will enlighten you on what you have been blind to all along. The love that your family holds for you and the fact that you should become closer to them and turn away from the falsehoods that blinded you from the truth.

 

His blessings come in many ways and many of His blessings are bestowed unto you through prayer. Therefore, I implore all of you to pray to God. Pray for guidance, for blessings, or merely pray to be enlightened and for your vision to be cleared. 

 

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|Section III|

 

God is a perfect Being, a constant in our world. He is an eternal One, the embodiment of virtue Who sits in the lofty Seventh Sky above all. We mortals are not perfect and we continuously change and adapt, soon to wither and ascend to the Seven Skies. We are not eternal and certainly not an embodiment of virtue. Instead, we are born pure and innocent yet soon to be corrupted by the worldly essences and the sinful forces of Iblees who infiltrate this world of God in the form of vice. Prayer is like us. Born pure and innocent yet corrupted by other forces. These forces are ourselves.

 

With our souls comes the pulls of vice and sin and with such immoral wishes and acts comes an eventual corruption of one’s prayer. One’s prayer is your’s. An embodiment of you. Of your thoughts and wishes. Your emotions and questions. Prayer is an expression of one’s self to God and with your prayer being your own, there comes a time when the worldly influences that corrupt you seep into your prayer. To be precise, I speak of selfishness in prayer. Prayer to the Lord should not be a process of ask, ask, ask. Instead, it is of great import for the faithful to use prayer for other means. A reminder that prayer was offered to all of us from God as a direct line of communication with He on high. I stress this to you. A direct line of communication with God. You are able to speak to God and what not better to speak to Him about but of our gratitude. 

 

You have the chance to speak to our Lord and thank him for the world, your family, friends, all the blessings you have and hold. It is He that gave you life. It is He that blesses you with enlightenment. It is He that continues to bless you each and every day. Therefore, it is you that must reciprocate and thank He in the Seventh Sky. I implore you to pray, yes. I implore you to beseech God for blessings. However, I also implore you to express your gratitude to Him for if not, your prayers would be hollow and with this you would be taking one of God’s greatest blessings for granted. Prayer.

 

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|Section IV|

 

In this Address, I wrote on both the advantages and disadvantages of prayer. The blessings of prayer are many however prayer is what you make it. As stated, prayer is your’s and if you wish to allow vice into your prayer, that is your doing. I beseech the reader to not always ask of God. To plead with God for blessings is a gift from God and one must not take this gift for granted. One must always express their gratitude to God as to not take the gift of prayer and spit it back to God in a crude manner. You have the ability to send your words to God and while to ask for blessings is encouraged, so too is expressing your thanks encouraged. He on high has done so much for you and you have the opportunity to thank our Lord. Take it. I leave you, brothers and sisters, with a prayer.

 

O’ Lord God, I beseech Thee on this Saint’s Day. I ask of Thee for blessings of protection against Thy foes. Blessings of wisdom to truly embrace Thy teachings and take them to heart. Blessings of strength so that I may endure the evil forces that attempt to corrupt my heart and soul and to combat them at every corner as to remain faithful to Thee and Thy word. I finally ask of Thee to enlighten me on the blessings already bestowed unto me so that I may appreciate the things I possess in life. With this, I invoke Thee to offer my utmost gratitude and wish to express my appreciation for all Thee has done. I vow now and forever to serve and worship Thee ‘till the end of times when we shall face the evil forces of the Dark Lord Iblees. May my words of gratitude reach Thee in the Seventh Sky and may my promise to Thee hold ever true, eternal and enduring before the challenges we face as the united faithful. 

Amen.

 

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It should also be noted that the Diocese of Helena is in search of worthy architects to begin on a project to expand the basilica. Please make yourself known to His Eminence Arthur of the Church of Canon if you are readily available to start such a project.

 

[Lojo613 1882]

Father Goren signs the Lorraine Cross to himself as he reads the address “The eternal dilemma, do we risk overstepping our bounds by asking for His mercy, or suffer in silence when all that the Lord desired of us was to ask?”