Pray Always and do not Lose Heart
Translated from a sermon by Fr Louka Sidarous
Do you think that God cannot hear you calling on Him, day and night? Of course He hears you! He hears, but He is long suffering with you; with us all.
God has a plan, He always has a plan. More times than not, it is very different to the plan we have in our minds. We are often distracted by our temporal life on Earth to see the bigger picture.
All we see is the one problem in front of us, but there is so much more! There is so much more to God’s plan for our lives. When we think of what troubles our minds – work, school, family. But do we ever stop to think, what troubles God’s mind?
My salvation – that is His biggest concern. What God plans for my salvation does not always match what I want for myself. Not every plan I make is relevant to salvation. Sometimes His plan does not match the needs that I feel I need or see as necessary.
When we become closer to God, and when our will begins to align with His will, we see the bigger picture clearly.
Why is He silent? In terms of prayer, we know that He always listens to our prayers. The prophet says, “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy. Now I will arise,” says the Lord” (Ps 12:5).
God is telling us that He hears our cry. He sees and hears. There is a bigger plan, and there is time to achieve much greater than the problems we see before us. My timing is not the same and my plans are not the same.
Abraham could have had Isaac just as any other person would have a son. But why delay it for one hundred years? Zacharias the Priest and Elizabeth waited for years and heard nothing. Hannah, the mother of Samuel the prophet, only gave birth after pouring her heart out before God.
There is always a bigger plan. Our submission to God, and our prayers for God’s will above our own will, give us peace in any tribulation. There is no need to worry, for I know His plans, I know His timing, and I know that all His plans are in wisdom. It is all for my salvation. All my tribulation, all my suffering, all my persecution are counted. There is nothing that our Lord misses in His plan.
When we pray, we strive to pray with hands of the beggar. The beggar stretches and receives. If the beggar keeps his hands in his pockets, how can he receive anything? If a man stretches out his hands, he begs. But when does man beg? When he is in need. When he has no other option.
If we are comfortable where we are, why would we feel the need to beg? All is well, we are not in need. When one feels their weakness and their needs, and stands before God, poor and needy, waiting for His refuge, for He is the only source of refuge, then he knows how to pray.
A man cries to God, “Save me! I am scared of losing my salvation, my eternal life. I am busy with cares of the world. Help Lord, for the godly man ceases!” (Ps 12:1).
The battle around me is great. The chances of salvation are slim and slipping away. Evil has spread and it feels like the world is polluted. All so we can exit the world unscathed and unharmed by the turmoil of this life. It is difficult to attain eternal life without enduring tribulation in this life. I need prayer! And I need tribulation to drive my prayers.
Everything revolves around salvation, but does this limit our prayers to salvation only? Are we not to pray about things of the world? Certainly not! “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:8-9).
When we pray however, we do not forget that salvation comes first; “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).
The matter needs prayer. It needs struggle. For there is no need for the one that is not struggling. Prayer with deeds, and prayer from the heart. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 8:36).
Glory be to God forever Amen.