Tag: prayer

Our Father

Our Father

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Daniel Fanous

In the Gospel, there are various accounts where Jesus teaches us how to pray. Often, we may find ourselves asking ourselves, “How do we pray?”. Thus, it is important for us to listen closely to the words which Christ provides us with within the Gospels. He says,

“When you pray, say Our Father,” (Luke 11:2)

He doesn’t give us prerequisites or strict instruction. We probably don’t notice how unusual that language is since we are so used to it. We hear it because we recite this prayer almost if not daily. During Christ’s time, to call God ‘Father’ was unusual.

In the Jewish praise, you will often hear them say, Lord God, creator of Heaven, and that’s how it would begin it. Very rarely would you see somebody called God, ‘Father.’ People were often excommunicated for claiming to call God ‘Father’, due to the audacity to act as though they were a son or daughter of God.

Not only does Christ urge us to call God Our Father, but He himself also uses the title when He prays.

It is unusual. Not only is He claiming to be the Son of God, but he also invites us to partake in this sonship, urging us to approach God as our Father too.

One of the early Church Fathers in early fifth or fourth century Alexandria says,

“He gives His own glory to us.”

He raises slaves to the dignity of freedom. He rescues us from the state of slavery, giving us by His grace what we did not possess by nature, and permits us to call God our Father as being admitted to the ranks of sons and daughters.

Can any of us say that we are truly free. But rather, we are all enslaved to something. All of us are beneath where we should be. All of us find that we do not have freedom or certain control, whether it will be given to anger, words that we cannot stop saying, cigarettes, alcohol shopping, whatever it may be, we’re all enslaved to something attention. However, Christ elevates us back to where we were supposed to be, sons and daughters.

Therefore, since we are all children of God, thus we must also be brothers and sisters to one another. We are all part of the same family raised under our Father’s wing. As He will care for us, so should we take care of our fellow brother or sister.

Prayer that Moves Mountains

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Yacoub Magdy

Passage Luke 11:1-13, Psalm 143:10,8

One of the blessings of our church is that every liturgy has a special meaning for each of us personally. It would be a shame if we didn’t search out this message from God from day to day.

The message from the gospel of today is that prayers are answered. St Luke starts the narrative with a question the disciples ask of Christ. They have seen Him praying on a number of occasions already now and this moved theirs hearts. They ask Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” – Like 11:1.

Jesus gave them a model of prayer. The beauty of the Lord’s prayer is that it starts with, “Our Father.” He encourages them to call Him, Father.  

Not many people appreciate this or understand fully. Those that convert to Chrisitianity from a different religion have an unique appreciation of calling God, Father. The Creator of all wants us to call Him Father.

 In the book, “I dared to call Him Father,” it took tremendous courage to call our Lord, Father. When I think about it, who am I to call Him Father?

This is the cornerstone to how we come to God with prayers answered. Jesus gives His disciples examples of persistence in prayer. When you pray, don’t stop until you receive. This is the treasure and beauty we can have as Christians – as children of the Almighty.

If a judge tells you lodge an appeal and I’ll support you. You have tremendous confidence that your appeal will be received because of the support you have from the judge. The One that answers prayer is telling us to ask, to seek, to knock, and He is the One that will answer us.

There is a famous comment of Pope Kyrillos from those who knew him well, “whatever God can do, prayer can do.” Prayer elevates our capabilities to God’s level. We can move the hand of God through our prayers.

St Basilios once said, “people climb and when they are two steps away from the top, they return back.” When you have something you need from God, don’t stop until you hear His answer.

If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

Luke 11:13

We, being normal people, with our limitations, would give to a friend in need. When a child asks for something, a parent rushes to give it to them straight away. God is our Father, and responds in the same way, if not, more. Each word is a step toward perseverance. Ask. Seek. Knock.

The first level is easy, you ask from what you want. The next is a bit more difficult because you start seeking it out. The final level is the height of persistence when you knock, and keep knocking until the door is opened.

This is how we approach God. Not to ask our request over and over again, God knows our needs, but if you have something at your work, home, health, with your children, God knows your needs.

As His child, God can never let us down. If the gospel is ever unclear, we have a Psalm attached for clarity. The fathers that put together the gospels hint toward the meaning by choice of psalms. The Psalm attached read;

Lead me in the land of uprightness. For in You do I trust

Psalm 143:10, 8.

I cannot trust God if I am not on the path of righteousness. St Isaac the Syrian once said, “The trust of the beggar compels the giver.” When you approach God, knowing He is all-capable yet all knowing, this confidence shines through your prayers. It is not a matter of, “God, can You help?” but “God, I know You can help, but let it be according to Your will.”

You cannot let someone down that comes to you in full assurance and trust. My conscious tells me that I won’t be let down. If you work for an honourable boss, you never think that he won’t pay your due wages.

If I am on the path of righteousness, I trust that I won’t be let down. This trust compels the Lord to give me. The beggar’s trust forces the giver to give. There is so much power given to the one that trusts God. It is available to us all, Fr Makary Younan says, “my hand can’t move a mountain, but my prayer can move the Hand of God that moves mountains.”

I recall a story when I was asked to speak to the youth about the consequences of purity. At the end of the talk, I left them with a challenge. The challenge was to spend six weeks (forty days) in complete purity, without a hint of impurity, no screens or looking twice at temptation. A period of six weeks is typically how long it takes to form a habit, so if they were motivated for this time, they could conquer any bad habits.

One of the youth was very afraid of failing a certain subject at university but upon hearing this challenge, he called upon the Lord to help him pass his subject if he maintained his purity. His confession father later told me this story because not only had he passed but he received a high distinction.

When I bow to temptation, I miss the point of my prayers, I forget the Lord and His promises.

“Moses and Aaron were among His priests, And Samuel was among those who called upon His name; They called upon the Lord, and He answered them. He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar; They kept His testimonies and the ordinance He gave them.”

Psalm 99:6-7

 It is all in our hands.  Ask, seek, knock. We have to be His sons and daughters by first acting in such a way.

Fr Daoud Lamei says while you are absent minded, see where your thoughts catch you. Is it God and His Name? Do we long to spend time with Him? Or is getting even, sexual desires, revenge? If this is the case, wee are excluding ourselves from sonhood. If you belong to God, you are implanted in Him, ask and you will receive. Your rank will intercede on you. Let God say this is My son or daughter. Wear this title with honour and then you have nothing to worry about.

⛰ Full Sermon ⛰

Ask In My Name

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Mark Basily

Passage John 16:23-33

“Ask in My Name” – a phrase repeated by Christ throughout this passage. This is a promise from our Lord – Christ is saying, “I promise if you ask the Father in My Name, you will receive.”

That’s a very bold promise. This is a huge commitment to make.

“Until now, you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” – John 16:24.

What does this actually mean? What are we allowed to ask for? Can I ask for materialistic things, a car, a phone? What is the Lord promising us today?

The four key words He says are, “Ask in My Name.” If we take each of those words individually, we understand His promise.

ASK

He wants us to ask! We shouldn’t assume that He knows what we want already. He knows what we need but He still wants us to ask for it. When we ask for it, we are admitting that we need Him. We ask and when we receive, we are thankful for we know it came from Him. If I don’t ask, I will never realise that He is the source. I will never truly realise that I need Him. The important step that He asks first, is to ask. This is not a burden, but a privilege. We are given the opportunity to ask of God.

I remember a time when one of our students was going through hardship and he came to me and asked me to speak with the Dean of his university to explain his situation. I called the secretary of the dean and she told me I couldn’t speak to him without an appointment. I asked to make an appointment, she came back and told me that he wouldn’t speak with me, but I could write him a letter. I wrote him a letter and never heard back from him. It was unlikely that he even read my letter.

This made me realise that if the Dean of a University was too important that he couldn’t make time to speak to me, let alone read my letter, but where does he stand in comparison to God? Today, Christ is telling us to just come to Him! Come talk to Me, I’m here, I’m ready, you don’t need an appointment. This is our God. He is the King of all kings but He humbles Himself to hear MY prayers. When Christ says, ask, it is an honour, a blessing, a gift, to ask the Creator of the Universe, and we should take full advantage of this.

IN

What are we in? We are in Christ. When we ask, we belong to Christ. When we belong to Him, we stand before the Father, in Christ. Imagine Christ is the One asking, and we are in Him. Could the Father say no to Christ? Never, so we ask IN Christ. When we belong to Him and are a part of Him, there is nothing that we cannot ask of the Father.

MY

My kids have been asking for a Nintendo Switch. I don’t want them to become addicted to games and screens. They beg and plead but I know this is not good for them. I explained to them saying, “I want you to understand that if you ask for something that is good for you, I will always say yes. Ask me for something that is bad for you, I will say no. If you want a book to read, I will go to the bookshop for you right now and get it for you. If you want a soccer ball, that’s good for your fitness, we’ll go get a soccer ball. If you want a new bike, that good for you to exercise, we’ll go get a new bike. Ask me things that are good for you.” Now, they ask according to what is good for them. My will for them, to be good and well-rounded children. God has a will for us, and He wants us to ask according to His will, and not our will.

If I ask God to give me the strength to fight temptation, what will He answer? His answer will be yes, it’s a given. If I ask for peace, His answer will be yes, given. If I ask God for holiness, yes here it is.

We ask according to His Name and according to His will for our lives. When we are in Him, we begin to know His word. When we are in Christ, we know Him, we know His will for us, we know if the answer will be yes or no, this is good for you or this is not good for you.

NAME

The name of Jesus is powerful. In Jewish tradition, the name of somebody held significance. It was not just a nice sounding name. The name held significant meaning, and God changed a person’s name based on significant events. Abram to Abraham. Sarai to Sarah. Jacob to Israel. God has changed people’s name for a reason. The Jews would not refer to God as YHWH. The Hebrew word was too holy to utter, so they used Adonai (which meant Lord). They used this as a substitute. So, we know that just the name of Jesus Christ is powerful.

We say not to use the Lord’s name in vain for it is powerful. There is a beautiful prayer called the Jesus prayer that goes like this, “My Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner.”

It’s a simple prayer that has come from the repetition. The monks of the early church would repeat this. They called it the Arrow Prayer, because in uttering the name of Jesus Christ, we invoke the power of the name of Jesus Christ to have mercy upon us.

This is a reminder of the gift of asking, anytime, anywhere, anything. All we need to do is to be in Him, to know Him, to belong to Him, to know His will. When we ask in His name, we ask according to His will, and His will becomes ours.

A Lesson on Worship

A Lesson on Worship

Adapted from a sermon by Fr Daniel Habib

The story of the Samaritan woman is one of the most amazing stories of the Gospels. We see how she discovers that Jesus was somebody special. She first infers that He may be a prophet. She thinks it’s a conversation about water but then He says, “I will give you living water!” She inquiries about this water and He tells her to call her husband and He will tell her about this living water. He commends her for speaking honestly but then reveals that she has had five husbands and the one she is living with is not her husband.

Suddenly, lights are going off in her head and she begins thinking this Man is important. At this, she asks her first big question about worship – “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship” (John 4:20).

The Samaritans had left the worship of Jerusalem, they left the temple, they separated themselves from the Israelites, and they became people mixed with the Gentiles, they took some of the Jewish faith, but essentially, they left the worship of the temple.

This is important to understand, because the worship of the temple was everything. You couldn’t worship God outside the temple. God was in the temple – His presence was in the temple. Hence if you wanted to worship God, you had to go to the temple. This idea of personal prayer was not as developed. In the Jewish mind, prayer had a corporate appearance of worship.

She is not asking about personal prayer, she is asking about corporate prayer. She says “We worship here. And you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where we ought to worship, so tell me, what do You make of our worship? are the Jews right, and we are wrong? Can we both be right? Can we worship here, and can we worship there?” And Jesus responds in almost the most direct we hear from Him, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:21-24).”

In English, we read, “salvation is of the Jews.” The more accurate Greek translations is, “salvation is from the Jews,” meaning Jesus Christ came from the Jews, and not that salvation belongs to the Jews alone. Jesus does not leave the issue of living water and move on to a separate topic. He discusses the idea of living water that is eternal life, and we know the living water to be the Holy Spirit that is given to us. He is not speaking about corporate worship, but worshipping in spirit and in truth. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

It is essential that when we pray, we first understand what we are doing. Too often when we speak about the divine liturgy – what we do here and now – we focus on symbols and we divide it into parts. But we need to look holistically, and not divide the liturgy into little pieces. We must understand the big picture, the direct implications the Eucharist has on our personal lives.  

Christianity is a community of worship. The church is a community of the body of Christ. Our own personal bodies are members of the body of Christ. This is what comes first; before any theology, before any doctrine, any dogma, before any Creeds, before there was anything, that we have now in the church, we are a community of worship.

In the very first church of Acts, they would come together, united in the Spirit and they would pray. They would come together and enter the Spirit of praise and worship. Even immediately after Christ’s Resurrection, the disciples gathered in the upper room. During the 40 days after the Resurrection, and the 10 days between the Ascension and Pentecost, you never hear them say, “Okay guys, let’s get together for our mission statement, what’s our mission statement going to be? How are we going to advertise ourselves to the world, how are we going to explain ourselves to the world? What are we going to do, let’s divide up the tasks, the jobs, and who’s going to be here, or who is going to do this?”

But this is how we look at our service. Our first meetings are to organise tasks, when the early church spent their time together in prayer. The work of the church is to pray, and to be a worshipping community. Ask yourself, how am I part of the church? I may know theology, doctrine, dogma but I am first a worshipper of the church.

As a worshipper in the church, how do I attend the services? How do I participate in the services? How do I come to church? What do I seek when I am coming to church? This directly affects your personal life. Our personal devotion cannot be separated from the church.

“Personal devotion and community worship belong intimately together, and each of them is genuine and authentic, and truly Christian, only through the other.” – Georges Florovsky

When we come together to pray, it presupposes and requires that we pray as individuals. When we come together as a church, we are supposed to come as individuals who pray by themselves at home coming together to pray as a group. This isn’t the only time you should be praying. The church is a gathering of people who pray. Personal prayer itself, is only possible because we belong to the group, the community. Since no person is a Christian except as a member of the body, even in the solitude of our chamber, when we enter into the inner room, we pray as a member of the redeemed community as a church. And that when we worship God, in spirit or truth, we can’t worship in one way or the other.

I can’t say I come to church but my actual worship is when I am alone. My worship at church should reflect my worship at home. The problem is that we put one over the other. And both can turn over to something terrible. When personal prayer become, “I, me, I want this, I asked for this, I need this…” This is not a prayer of the church but a disconnection.

In church, we pray for, “Our fathers and brethren who have fallen asleep repose their souls.” And, “Heal those who are sick. Visit the sick among your people, heal them.” We do not pray on behalf of ourselves but on behalf of the entire church community and it’s important to understand that WE, as a community, are entering the church and pray with the church.

The most important parts of the Liturgy, when the priest calls for the Holy Spirit to come upon the bread and the wine to turn into the Body and the Blood. He doesn’t say “I” ask You. He says “WE” as a community, “ask You, to bring Your Holy Spirit upon us and upon these things.”

As much as possible, we must participate fully as a community, to give us this idea that I’m not separate from the body of Christ, but that I’m part of the body of Christ and when I worship, and I worship with the body of Christ.

If we don’t understand the words we still should sing the words because there are three things that happen. First, we sing the words with our mouth. Then we bring our mind to where our mouth is so we concentrate on the words and then eventually our hearts. Our heart embraces the words, but it starts in that order. Don’t wait for your heart, and then for your mind, and then you’ll sing. You sing first and then your mind goes with your mouth, then your heart with your mind. Simple.

Every time the deacon says “let us attend”, or “let us pray”, it means something important is happening and we have to pay attention to what is happening. Even if I might not be in the very spiritual mood, I remember to pay attention to God. We’re in the house of God we’re not in the house of me or any of the other priests.

When you see people coming to church who haven’t been here in a long time, pray that God keeps them in the church. Don’t judge them. If you yourself haven’t come to church in a long time and you’re scared about coming when you just happen to be here today? Come to church with a sincere desire to be a true member of the Church of God, asking God for

forgiveness, which He is willing to give to everyone who seeks this repentance. But we have to actively live the life. You can’t just say forgive me, and then we go do what we want to do afterwards. The church becomes a standard in the way that we live our life. May God be glorified in His church and may He teaches always to worship Him in spirit and in truth now and ever and unto the ages of all ages. Amen.

⛪️ Full sermon ⛪️

From Palms to the Cross

From Palms to the Cross

Adapted from a sermon by Dr Adel Magdy

After the Lord entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, we map every step He took in the hope that we see what He saw, we hear what He heard and we feel what He felt in this final week.

The ultimate aim is to reach His Cross, to stand at the foot of the Cross on Good Friday. We start with Palm Sunday where thousands of people surround Christ to get even a glimpse of Him. By the end of the week, there were only a handful that remained at the foot of the Cross. Even His disciples, His closest of friends, had deserted Him.

For the special few that made it all the way to the Cross, indescribable blessings were given from our compassionate Lord. If we consider what would’ve happened to St Mary after the death of her only Son, with no husband, life would have become extremely difficult for her in those days. He gave her John the Beloved to care for her. As for John the Beloved, the gift of having the Mother of God in his own household was a huge blessing and shows how much the Lord trusted him.

St Mary Magdalene received the honour of being the very first person that the gospels record the Lord appearing to after His resurrection. She was the first to see the risen Christ. Even those that were not at the foot of the Cross deliberately still received blessing. The Centurion, for example, had his eyes opened. It is even believed that this man became a martyr for the sake of the Lord.

There is power in being on the foot of the Cross on Good Friday. For us, we begin a journey this week. The ultimate aim is to power through right until the foot of the Cross.

There are a lot of tests and milestones along the way that we must pass to reach the foot of the Cross. The first milestone we encounter on the night of Palm Sunday. On Monday Eve, Christ asks the disciples a few questions – who do men say that I am? He then follows up with a more personal question – who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15)

It’s an unusual question. Why would the Lord care about what people were saying about Him? He knew that His disciples knew who He was. For us, we ask the Lord, “who do You say that I am?” Not what I think of God, but what does God think of me. It doesn’t matter what the world thinks of me. It doesn’t matter how I outwardly appear to the world. It doesn’t matter if people look at me and think I am a great ambassador of the Lord. What matters is what the Lord thinks when He looks at my heart.

Lord, who do you say that I am?

It’s not a comfortable question for any of us to ask. We’re not sure what the Lord will say of us. Will He say that we were like John the Beloved, loving Him and always drawing near to Him, or if He will say, you’re like Judas, someone that betrayed for any price. We don’t know that the answer will be. We fear so many hidden things in our life that if people knew, they wouldn’t want to know us.

As uncomfortable as this question is to ask, it’s crucial for us if we want to make it to the foot of the Cross on Good Friday. Even if we don’t ask this question, we will hear the Lord’s answer on Judgement day. The Lord will tell us what He thought, and we will either enter the joy of the Lord or we will be cast into eternal condemnation.

In His mercy, we are given the opportunity to ask this question tonight while we have a chance to fix it. On Judgement Day, there will be no further opportunities to change, but now we have a chance. We have a chance to ask the Lord what we need to do to fix ourselves and draw near to Him.

Monday of Holy Week is the cursing of the fig tree, this is where the thousands that surrounded Jesus on Palm Sunday begin to drop off. The Lord is hungry and He sees a fig tree from a distance, full of leaves. The Lord makes the effort to draw near to the fig tree but when He arrives He sees that there is no fruit, just leaves. Apart from its appearance, there is no good in it. The Lord curses the fig tree, the very next day it withers away and dies. The church fathers teach us that this is a symbol of hypocrisy. There is nothing the Lord hates more than hypocrisy. The Lord was only firm with the Pharisees and scribes because of their hypocrisy.

We get on our knees in Holy Week and beg the Lord to show us what we are doing wrong and what we can do about it. We ask for His grace to change our life this year. We can make a change this Passion Week.

A life changing sermon was given by Fr Matta El Meskeen that outlines the steps toward answered prayer. Beg the Lord day and night to reveal your sins and weaknesses that keep you from Him. Pray for nothing else in one month, but day and night repeat this prayer – reveal the sins that are keeping me from coming to You, Lord. We can only ask this question if we are prepared to act upon what the Lord teaches us, to learn to fix our hearts and to see through the Lord’s eyes.

Lord, may You grant us clarity to see what separates us from You so that when Good Friday comes, we may see You in full clarity. May we increase our love for You, that it becomes easy to stop the sins we once loved that block us from You. My Saviour, may You help me reach the Cross so that I may sit at the foot of the Cross all day and see the depth of Your love for me and the depth of Your sacrifice. May I hear You say, “Enter my Beloved child in whom I am well pleased.”

?? Full Sermon ??

The Reality of Our Faith

The Reality of Our Faith

by Mirette Ibrahim

If we need a physical building in order to pray, we’re doing something wrong.
If we can’t speak to our Maker, without being surrounded by our loved ones, we’re doing something wrong.
If we can’t taste and see our Creator’s goodness in the confines of our own rooms, we’re doing something wrong.
If we need to be spoken to by our leaders in order to feel like we’re hearing our Lord’s voice, we’re doing something wrong.
If we can abstain from food but can’t abstain from seeing our friends, we’re doing something wrong.
If we can’t feel our God’s grace being poured on us outside of the church walls, we’re doing something wrong.

If I think my Father’s voice is only found in the crowds and not the stillness, I’m doing something wrong.
If I have limited the Unlimited to a physical space, I’m doing something wrong.
If I have confined the Almighty to a single place of existence, I’m doing something wrong.
If I’ve put my Master into a box and made Him my God according to my own preferences and criteria, I’m doing something wrong.
If I’ve failed to see my neighbor struggling while I selfishly stock my shelves and offer them my prayers, I’m doing something wrong.
If I can’t see the blessing disguised in this time of solitude that some can only dream of, I’m doing something wrong.
If I can’t call on my Saviour during this time of mass drowning, but have time to sit behind my screen and condemn the leaders for their obedience and guidance, I’m doing something wrong.

So…

Let’s pray in the stillness.
Let’s contemplate in the solitude.
Let’s experience Him in the silence.
Let’s hear Him in the quiet.
Let’s be filled with Him in our abstinence.
Let’s feel Him reaching out to us.
Let’s know Him in our obedience.
Let’s be there for each other.
Let’s help out our brother.
Let’s lay down our lives for our neighbors.

Let’s do Lent and life right.

Lord Teach Us to Pray Part 3

Lord, Teach Us To Pray 

Part 3

by Andrew Boutros 

We talked about the meaning of prayer and how to pray, so now I’d like to focus on enjoying prayer. We mentioned before that prayer is heart to heart conversation between you & God which requires examining the condition of our hearts and setting intentions and then in all simplicity ask God to teach us how to pray.

Fr. Goettmann, an Orthodox priest, said in his book ‘The Spiritual wisdom and practices of early Christianity’: “We first ‘do’ exercise then we become exercise; we say prayers, but we must eventually become prayer. We go to liturgy but our whole being is called to become liturgical and daily life is meant to be a celebration.” This is the depth that Christ desires for us to experience. This is the life that Christ wants us to live. Christ doesn’t want us to be just performers as we are in so many aspects in our lives instead, He desires that we experience HIM in our day to day routine until He becomes the center of our lives. Christ’s aim is that we don’t just ‘do’ spiritual exercise or ‘pray’ few prayers or ‘go’ to liturgical services but that we become one with Him through all these means that He left us.

In John chapter 17, Christ was praying for His father for this unity to happen, He said“ I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us.”

The Church fathers in their wisdom have arranged so many prayers for us and left us with treasures to teach us how to take the first steps in our spiritual lives and how to go deeper with Christ. The first day in school is always tough, the first day at a new job is always weird, the first day in any new journey isn’t always comfortable but we take it anyway. So, the Church fathers teach us saying, “Sometime you must take the first uncertain steps if you wish at all to draw near to God. Don’t be anxious about your clumsy beginning; don’t yield to shyness and uncertainty, and the mocking laugher of enemies who try to persuade you that you are behaving ridiculously & that the whole thing is only a child of fantasy and meaningless.” Just pray for strength, get the guidance you need from your spiritual guide and father of confession and take that step. Don’t lend your ear to the devil trying to put you down.

Father Seraphim El Baramousy said “Those who take the first step toward a life with God, wearing the garment of repentance, must be diligent to hasten their repentance whenever they fall, and not give heed to the murmurings of the devil who wants to make them indulge in sin.” By the way no one is expecting you to go from 0 to 100 in a day or a week or a month in your prayer life because our church teaches us to do everything with moderation. Even when Christ was with his disciples for 3 years, they couldn’t attain the highest merits in their spiritual lives. We saw some of the disciples fall asleep multiple times in the garden of Gethsemane when Christ instructed them not to. I’m only mentioning this so you can have reasonable expectations and logical steps to consider when you are building your prayer life in accordance to the guidance you take from your father of confession.

Your father of confessions is a crucial tool in guiding along the path of spiritual growth through prayer. St. Nikon of Optina explains the role of the spiritual guide saying “The spiritual father only shows the way, like a signpost, but we have to traverse it ourselves. If the spiritual father shows the way and the disciple doesn’t move himself, then he won’t get anywhere and will rot near the signpost.” Build trust with your father of confession and spiritual guide so you can share with him/her what’s on your heart and he/she are able to navigate you wisely in your spiritual life so you can achieve unity with Christ.

Finally, “prayer by its nature is communion and union of man with God” as St. Ignatius Brianchaninov said and this is what you & I should be aiming for.

Lord Teach Us to Pray Part 2

Lord, Teach Us To Pray 

Part 2

by Andrew Boutros 

What is prayer?

Prayer in its simplest form is heart to heart conversation between you & God. It’s easier said than done, right? If it’s just that easy than why are we all struggling to pray? Why are so many people having hard time listening to God speak back to them? Why do we all feel at many points in our lives that our prayers hit the ceiling and come back to us empty?

There are so many reasons why we experience this in our spiritual lives, but I will only cover a few in this blog. If we believe and agree that prayer in its simplest form is a HEART to HEART conversation between us and God than we ought to diagnose the condition of our hearts first. Imagine with me, you are driving your car on the freeway and you see a light in your dashboard indicating that you need to adjust your tires, it’s called the pressure warning light. You have two choices, either you continue your journey and postpone it, or you exit from the freeway to the nearest gas station to adjust your tires. The choice is yours & yours alone! There are signs that you can look for in your life that will indicate the condition of your heart and prayer is one of the signs that will show that to you.

St. Mark the Ascetic said, “We should often, if not daily, examine our souls and repent of the sins that we find there.” Examining the conditions of our hearts is an essential first step in learning how to pray. If I don’t know what’s blocking me internally from listening or talking to God, then I am likely to  give up on prayer and in turn, give up on God after only a few attempts.

St Basil the Great also said “One cannot approach the knowledge of the Truth with a disturbed heart. Therefore, we must try to avoid everything that disturbs our heart, that causes forgetfulness, excitement, or passion that awakens unrest.”

Second step that we need to do so we can learn how to pray is to define the why, to set intentions. The German philosopher Nietzsche said, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” This concept is true in so many aspects in our lives especially our spiritual lives, if we go to church Sunday mornings aimlessly with no purpose then we won’t benefit much of the readings, prayers, and communion.

If we stand in prayer aimlessly with no purpose then we won’t enjoy, benefit and experience the peace that God has for us. The disciples went to Jesus one day after he finished His prayers and told Him “Lord, teach us to pray.” Titus of Bostra, a Christian Theologian commented on this request saying, “The disciples having seen a new way of life, desire a new form of prayer, since there were several prayers to be found in the Old Testament.” St. Gregory of Nyssa also commented on this request saying, “He unfolds the teaching of prayer to his disciples who wisely desire the knowledge of prayer, directing them how they out to beseech God to hear them.” When you go in to pray with the purpose and intention of connecting with God and enjoying His presence, you will benefit 100% more than going into prayer aimlessly or because prayer became some sort of routine for you.

After you examine the condition of your heart and set intentions ,the next step is to ask God to teach you how to pray exactly as the disciples did. It’s a simple step yet we struggle to do it. One of the early church fathers instructs us saying “prayer is action. To pray is to be highly effective, it’s be speaking a foreign language that one learns it, and by praying one learns to pray.” So, stand in front of God and tell Him “Lord I’m clueless, Lord Jesus I’m lost, I tried before and failed and have no desire, motive or passion to pray anymore. Can you please teach me how to pray? Can you teach me how to enjoy being in your presence? Can you open my eyes to the blessings you have for me? Teach me Lord how to love you and how to fall in love with you. Teach me Lord to how abide in you.”

Start small and seek help and watch what God will do in your life and with your life. St. Theophan the Recluse said “Nothing comes without effort. The help of God is always ready and always near but is given only to those who seek and work, and only to those seekers who are after putting all their powers to test, cry out their whole heart ‘Lord help us.’”

Lord Teach Us To Pray Part 1

Lord, Teach Us To Pray 

Part 1

by Andrew Boutros 

On a random Tuesday in July, 2011, I received a phone call from my dad telling me to book a flight and go to Kenya. I had no idea where Kenya was on the map nor what people do in Kenya. But I decided to go with the idea since I love traveling, little did I know that this mission trip would be the first of many more trips and would be a new milestone in my relationship with God.

I was 19 years old in my junior year of college with no major, no purpose and no goals in life. I landed in Kenya August 11th, 2011 not knowing anyone or anything about mission work. The first two days were extremely rough for me since the schedule I had to follow was a very rigorous one. Waking up at 7am to do my quiet time (reading the Bible), then prayer then Bible study followed by breakfast for 45 minutes. Then we would go out and preach and do outreach from 10 am to 4 pm, come back have lunch then two hours of free time followed by prayers, Bible study and a small prayer meeting before we sleep!

That was way too much for me since I didn’t have a lot of knowledge or any knowledge about the Bible at that time and my prayer life was on hold during the first two years of college. I had so many questions about the Bible and God, but I was never given a satisfying answer, so I was just Christian by name more of an agnostic, believing that God exits but having no relationship whatsoever with Him.

On August 13th, 2011 I had my first very fight with God, I was so mad because I felt so useless in the first 2 days in my mission trip, everyone around me seemed to know what they were doing or what to preach EXCEPT me, they had a different kind of joy and zeal for Christ. So, that night I prayed and told Him “God I want this kind of joy that they have, I want you to change my life because I’m sick of the life I’ve been living. Lastly God, if you allowed this change to happen in me, I want people to see Christ in me the rest of my life.”

The 20 days that I spent in Kenya after that became very different and marked the beginning of a new phase and a new lifestyle. The change that happened in me was more of a mindset change that eventually led to my behaviors to be changed. I started waking up early to do my quiet time and ask questions if I didn’t understand anything. I started praying very small prayers asking Him to teach me how to preach, how to read His word, how to talk to Him, and how to maintain this joy. By the end of the 23 days I spent there He made it clear for me that this is the new lifestyle He wanted me to live. BUT it all started with that very first fight with God, that one prayer on August 13th, 2011. God literally held my hands as a Father holds his child’s hand and taught me how to talk to Him, how to listen to Him, and how to follow Him one step at a time. I never understood the meaning of praying the Agpya prayers, I used to be always distracted during liturgy because I never understood the depth or the meaning of the prayer, but He taught me slowly and carefully.

Sometimes the starting point can be overwhelming. What do I say when I stand in prayer? What do I do for 2 hours at the liturgy? We need to understand the difference between all these various types of prayers and the different levels of prayers as well. The church fathers explain to us that there are three levels of prayers;

  • Prayers of the mouth
  • Prayers of the min
  • Prayers of the heart.

Prayers of the mouth are the first level of prayer where we recite the words of prayers without understanding the words, experiencing the depth, or meditating on it. This is the level we all start with when we are learning how to pray, you could be at church and just reciting the hymns with the congregation but not necessarily understanding every word that you say.

The second level of prayer is the prayer of the mind where you step up the game and start meditating on the words you are saying. You are stopping at some words during your prayer time and meditating on these words even if it’s for few minutes.

Then the last level of prayer is the prayer of the heart where you let your mouth, mind, and heart be fully engaged while praying. So, you move from the memorization or recitation level to experiencing more depth and warmth in prayer that you forget yourself, you forget your own needs and requests and you are fully immersed in God’s heart.

Throughout our spiritual journey here on earth we typically fluctuate between the three levels, but our aim should always be the prayer of the heart where every part of us is fully occupied with Jesus. If we understand the different levels of prayers and set it as our aim to reach the prayer of the heart, then it eases our way to understand and practice the different types of prayers.

The two main types of prayers are the formal prayers and the conversational prayers. The formal prayers are the prayers that the church has set for us to reach this union with God such as the liturgical prayers and the Agpya prayers. While the conversational prayers are the heart to heart prayers that you say to God anytime. One analogy that will make it easier to understand these levels and types of prayers and makes it application easy is the seed and tree analogy. If you want to plant a tree, it all starts by throwing a seed in the ground. You need to have patience, right amount of sun light, good soil, right quantity of water every day, and someone to take care of it. So remember that when you start developing your prayer life God will take you through the same journey this tiny seed goes through until it becomes a huge tree that becomes a shelter to many birds and you too will grow a become a giant in the faith and will be a shelter to many people and guide them to Christ. Your heart is the ground and you already have the seed in your heart so pray today that He starts the development process in your heart so you can reach this union with Him.

Finding God’s Will in Humility

Finding God’s Will in Humility

Transcribed sermon by Fr Samuel Fanous

Passage: Luke 1:26-38

What is God’s will and how do I accept His will in my life? The story of the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus Christ to Saint Mary is a beautiful and practical answer to this question that many of us have asked. God could have chosen a multitude of ways to send His Son to the earth, yet He chose St Mary, of all the billions of people. The Annunciation gospel gives us a glimpse into why she was the greatest of all time.

The Archangel Gabriel greets her saying, “Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” (Luke 1:28)

What a greeting this was! Saint Mary lived in the temple so we can presume that she lived and breathed the Scriptures. At the appearance of the angel with a greeting as such, surely she would have known that big news was coming.

When the angel appeared to Gideon in the Old Testament to tell him that he would conquer an army of ten thousand with 300 men, he said, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valour”(Judges 6:12). In the seemingly impossible, the assurance of this phrase was more than enough. Again, when God spoke to Moses to guide the Israelites out of the Egypt, He greets him saying, “I will certainly be with you” (Exodus 3:12).

In this moment, St Mary would have known that when the phrase, “the Lord is with you,”is used that a great mission and a great honour is to come, but this is not without suffering. St Mary was troubled at this greeting, she was twelve years old and spent her life praying in the temple and expected to live the rest of her life similarly.

The angel is now telling her that God has more planned for her. In her supreme humility, Mary is troubled because she can’t see how something so great will be achieved by someone so insignificant. Sometimes, we exercise false humility when we turn down a service because we’re not worthy, or we don’t think we’re good enough. This is very different to what St Mary says for her humility was sincere. She was troubled internally by the great responsibility but she knew that it was not her who was achieving this great act, but God.

She could have said, “No, I can’t do it, this is too much for me. I’m just a sinful person, how can I carry Jesus Christ?”But St Mary did not look to herself, she looked to God. It was not a matter of her unworthiness but God’s worthiness. She was not the one enacting the miracle but God was. She was simply the vessel, and that is the greatest display of humility that we hear when she says, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”

The first step to humility is recognising that no one is worthy. If there is any good within us, we don’t deny it but attribute it to the goodness of God. If I’m smart, I know that God gave me intelligence. If I’m good looking, I know that it was God that created me that way. Humility is not to say that I am the worst person and there is nothing good in me – that is all lip service. True humility is knowing that anything we have cannot be ascribed to ourselves. It can only be ascribed to God.

St Mary asks a question that may sound like she is doubting what the angel is saying when she says, “How can this be since I do not know a man?”

Zachariah asks a similar question, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years,”and is rebuked and made mute until the birth of his son, but St Mary is praised. There is a subtle difference however, Zachariah’s question is almost asking the angel to prove himself, while Mary is asking how it will happen. Mary is saying, “I believe you, explain it to me, if I have taken a vow of virginity, how shall I fall pregnant?”

Mary was filled with faith, which Zachariah was lacking. Her faith was one of the reasons why she was the greatest that ever lived. She placed her trust completely in the Lord, and we see glimpses of St Mary as an enigma in the gospel. Later when the wise men and shepherds come to Bethlehem to see Jesus, St Mary doesn’t say much, but ponders these things in her heart. Her entire life was devoted to serving God, with very little thought into the part she played. Many of our own problems stem from the fact that we are firmly attached to our own will. God cannot penetrate a heart that is insistent on its own will. God gave us freewill and will not fight us for what’s best for us, we need to want His will above our own.

No matter what happened to St Mary, she pondered these things in her heart and said, “let it be according to Your Word.” She may not have understood what was happening but that was not a concern, for she was the clay in the Potter’s hand. No one could accomplish the will of God quite like St Mary, for she was the most obedient in existence.

How did she attain such faith and obedience? Because she had spent her life in the temple, pondering the Word of God. She lived with Jesus, the Son God for 30 years, she experienced Him and she pondered His words in her heart.

We live differently. We live outside the Word God. We live outside of a relationship with God and we have agendas that we are trying to complete. For some, it’s their career, for others it’s their lifestyle, their happiness or their families. We all have an agenda and when God’s will presents itself before me, I am forced to make a decision – will I follow God’s will or will I follow my own?

When you’ve lived your entire life satisfying your own will, it becomes nearly impossible to choose God’s will rather than your own will. For example, I know that it is God’s will for me to live in harmony with others and harbour no hatred in my heart, but there may be a grudge that I’m holding against someone. For as long as that grudge stands, I choose to put God’s will aside for my own.

God’s will be for me to spend time with Him in prayer, but that conflicts with my desire for sleep and my fatigue. So again, God’s will must be put to one side. There’s a conflict in our hearts night and day between my will and God’s will, and every time I give in to my own will, I am making it stronger. I entrench it further and it becomes more and more to see clearly.

If God asks you for something, surrender yourself to His will, just like St Mary who didn’t know what was to come. If you are called to serve, surrender yourself to His will and do it not because you are great, but because you are simply a vessel that will carry greatness.

So how do we know God’s will? Do we expect that we’re going to get a letter from Heaven to say take this job, or marry this girl? It will never happen that way. We can only know God’s will in our life when we subject ourselves to His will in the small things.

When you don’t want to pray and you pray anyway that is subjecting yourself to God’s will, or when you don’t want to fast, or serve, or forgive, and you do it anyway, you strengthen the will of God in the little things. God’s will then grow in your life and it becomes easy to recognize that the steps you are taking are in line with God’s will. If you’ve lived your own will your whole life but then want to get married, how will you ever know, if you have not lived God’s will?

Let us learn to live our lives like St Mary, as a vessel for the Master’s use so that His will becomes clear in my life in the little things so that the big things are under His control entirely.