The Best prayer in the world

It has been a long time since I posted anything in this blog. I want to blame this on laziness. Of course there have been demands from other angles that prevent the daily posting but I know you my readers have been patient with me. Thank you for being there.

I want to reflect briefly on the best prayer I have ever heard. This is at rem because the insert in the bulletin this week was titled ‘Prayer’. So here is the best prayer: when I was in the Gambia, there was a very special family that I loved dearly and I often spent some time with them. It reminds you of the family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus (Lk. 10:38-42); they had a three-year-old boy who was fond of me. It happened that one day during their night prayer, the boy offered to also say his own prayer after his mother had finished hers. This was the prayer of the three year old: “Oh God bless mommy, bless daddy, bless Fr. Augustine, and please God bless God.” Wonderful isn’t it? I think it was the best prayer ever offered. It was short, it was brief, it was to the point and it was complete, as far as the young man was concerned. This short prayer addressed all his concerns. With the blessing of God on his parents, he was covered. All his problems are taken care of. With this blessing he was sure of his livelihood, his shelter and his security. It was like saying “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” (Ps. 23) Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 5:6, “Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.” That was exactly the boy’s prayer, leaving everything at the feet of his parents and asking for God’s special blessing on them. What a prayer!

What about the second part of his prayer; “Bless Fr. Augustine?” Fr. Augustine was his spiritual father. With God blessing the priest, his priest, he was sure of his spiritual nourishment. St. Paul, in his first letter to the Thessalonians 5:25 says, “Brothers, pray for us (too). The letter to the Hebrews 13:7 on the other hand says “Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the work of God to you, whose faith you follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.” So why should he pray for his spiritual father? Dr. Dale A Robbins in his 14 Ways to Encourage Your Pastor has this to say: “Serving as a pastor is a remarkable and awesome blessing and privilege, but sometimes pastors can be the most misunderstood people in the Church. Often their hours are long, the pay minimal, the criticism considerable and constant. Despite the joys of serving God, feelings of disappointment and discouragement can plague the best of them.” By invoking God’s blessing on his spiritual father, this young boy fulfilled the Words of Scripture more than many adult who never remembered to mention their pastor to God during their daily discourse with Him. Dr. Dale reminds us once again to do what this boy did. He said “Pray, pray, pray for your pastor – You know how much opposition that you receive yourself…from the world, the flesh, and the devil…and be assured, your pastor receives much more than you. Pray for him every day, and ask God to shower your pastor with an abundance of love, hope, joy, faith, peace, power, wisdom, and courage. Pray for your spiritual leader’s maturity and growth in the faith. While you pray be mindful of this wise advise from the German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “If you treat a person as he is, he will stay as he is; but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” As Paul wrote, “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.” (2 Thes. 3:1-2) You see why this is the best prayer in the world? But wait there is another component to this prayer.

The boy prayed finally that God should bless himself. Why not? The African proverb puts it in the mouth of a lizard that if no one praises him for falling from an elm tree and landed on the ground unhurt, he will praise himself. God is the creator of the universe and He sustains his creation in being. Many times we his creatures behave as if he does not exist and for sure many live as if there is no God. So if they forget to bless God, God should bless himself, for loving us and caring for us in spite of our sinfulness. Note that the boy is not calling on us to bless God. No, He is asking God to bless Himself. But I would also add that we should not leave the blessing God to God alone, we should be about the project of blessing and praising God for all that he has done for us. Psalm 103 reminds us to “Praise the Lord, my soul! All my being, praise his holy name! Praise the Lord, my soul, and do not forget how kind he is. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases; he saves me from the grave and blesses me with love and mercy; he fills my life with good things, so that I stay young and strong like an eagle…” Children are close to the heart of God and their prayers are efficacious. Please teach your children how to pray and they will never forget to pray for you. They may even remind you how you should pray and who you should pray for.