Believe In Prayer

I do not know how many times I have urged people to say the prayers of the rosary, or how many more times I will repeat myself.  Prayers are effective but often not effective in the manner and within the time frame that one wishes.  The Lord will answer the prayers of the faithful (those who believe in God without a shred of doubt) whether those prayers are for themselves, their loved ones, complete strangers [1] or for no one in particular. [2]

How does one know if prayers are effective when they are not answered in accordance with one's expectations?  This is where humility comes into play.  One must ask: "Who is the better judge of what is the perfect answer to a prayer, God or me?"  I hope nobody answers "me."

Life and death.  When it is a matter of life and death, is a long life necessarily better than a short one?  One cannot answer the question unless one sees clearly into the future and knows the Truth.  Since nobody but God knows the Truth and the future, one must defer to God on all matters of life and death. [3]

Sickness.  Sickness goes hand in hand with suffering.  While sickness is inconvenient, it forces one to examine and reassess one's life and the lives of those who have been assisting with the recovery.  Hopefully, the suffering will teach one to be less selfish, more patient and never to take for granted the gifts of life and health.

Patience.  Sometimes one is being delayed because of traffic, or by others for one reason or another and one misses someone, some thing, or the beginning of some event.  One is seldom glad about delays.  More seldom is one ever grateful for them because one usually takes for granted or does not recognize or what good God's delays have brought, perhaps an accident that never happened (one always expects to arrive at a destination safely in one piece), the speeding ticket that one did not get or a readily accessible parking spot that one did get (one usually considers that to be a random occurrence, such as luck or a coincidence), or seeing someone unexpected or something wonderful (one almost never thinks about delays when one is so captivated).

Believe in prayers and think about all the miracles [4] that come with saying them.


[1] I have no proof that any of my prayers for strangers had been effective, but I have faith that they were heard.
[2] Just saying prayers of the rosary with no defined wish or hope comes with many, many blessings.
[3] I suppose Satan also knows the Truth and sees the future but who would want Satan to have influence over one's life and death?  Those who do will have a life of Hell and an eternity in it.  One might ask that if Satan can see the future and knows that It will lose Its final battle against God, why is It still fighting God for the souls of men?  Creating misery for man, a creature Satan despises, is Its true goal.  Making people miserable even if one has nothing to gain is the essence of evil.  Satan is the essence of evil. 
[4] Look around, think of the possibilities that could have happened but did not, and all that have happened that in the end brought contentment.  Then think, did I just make all that happen?