Grandparents often joke with their children about getting the same kind of children they were, especially if they were rascals. "Just you wait," they say. "Your children will be just like you when you were growing up." Often that is true. Let's continue to look at Jacob and his life for a moment. Yes, Jacob showed favoritism among his sons and they were rivals for his affection. Where might he have experienced favoritism and sibling rivalry in his own life? Jacob had a twin brother named Esau. He and Esau were rivals for their parents' affection. The Scripture tells us that Esau was a hunter and a man of the open country while Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. Their father Isaac loved Esau, and their mother Rebekah loved Jacob. So Jacob grew up with favoritism being shown by his parents and in rivalry with his brother Esau (Genesis 25:19 -27:45). As a father himself, Jacob showed favoritism among his sons and experienced rivalry among them too. His boys turned out just like him and his brother Esau. For reflection: What habits of my parents have I carried forward into my life? Are they good or bad habits? Let us pray. Father God, I thank you for my parents. I thank you for the love they showed to me and that they did their best to raise me to adulthood. I thank you for being my Father also, for keeping me under your wing even today. I ask you to help me forgive my parents for not being everything that I needed them to be. I repent of judging them for what they did and did not do. I forgive them for not being perfect parents. (It is important to forgive them as specifically as you can in this type of prayer.) I ask you, Father, to bring to my mind the other things for which I need to forgive my parents. (Pay attention to memories that come up in the next couple of weeks. As God brings these to mind, forgive your parents for them.) I repent of carrying on my parents' bad habits in my own life and with my children. Forgive me for the bad ways I have acted toward my children (again, be specific and pay attention to memories that arise in the next couple of weeks). Help me to see my children through your loving eyes, Father. You are the only perfect Father. Help me to be more like you.
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"O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart" begins the sixth O Antiphon. Since we looked at the kingship and Kingdom of God in November and December, we won't spend much time on it today except to say that he is not the usual type of earthly king. The Israelites expected a king in the mold of David who would wage wars against their enemies. Isaiah says, "Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a child is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever" (Isaiah 9:5-7). Our God is not a God of war, but a God of peace. His weapons, our weapons, are spiritual because people are not our enemy. Our enemy, God's enemy, is Satan and his works. When we complete the defeat of Satan, full peace will be restored in the Kingdom of God on earth. Our weapons are prayer, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing, salvation, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 13). All of these destroy Satan's stronghold and deliver people into the Kingdom of God. For God wants everyone to be saved and to join him in his Kingdom. For Reflection: Have I slipped into the mindset of considering any person to be my enemy? Let us pray. Jesus, you are Messiah, King, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God and Prince of Peace. The government of justice and righteousness is on your shoulders. Change my mindset and give me eyes to see my true enemy. Let me be a warrior using your weapons to bring peace and justice. "I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." Isaiah spoke these words (22:22) some time around 700 BC, long before Jesus was to be born. Yet Isaiah saw a distant future, a different time. "O Key of David" brings us to the fourth of the O Antiphons. Jesus came to open prison doors and set the captives free. He came to open the gates of Heaven and to close the gates of Hell. The key to each is on his shoulders as the kingdom is on his shoulders, as the beam of the cross is on his shoulders, as life and death, judgment and justice are on his shoulders. He not only carries the key, he uses the key, he is the key. For Reflection: What things that have been locked away need to be opened? Who in my life do I need to set free? Let us pray. O Wisdom, O Lord, O Flower of Jesse, O Key of David, you are the key to healing, to freedom, to wholeness. Open my mind to your wisdom. Let it take root and flower in me that I might follow in your footsteps by opening doors and setting captives free. "Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you" (Isaiah 35:3-4; cf. Hebrews 12:12). As we look back and forth between the Old Testament and the New Testament at these descriptions of the Kingdom of God we see that there is really no difference between them. Isaiah and the other visionary prophets got it right. Jesus and his disciples proclaim the same coming Kingdom. It's a kingdom where the righteous are rewarded, where all illnesses are healed, every tear wiped away. Hang in there. God is coming. There is hope. For reflection: Where am I flagging? What about me needs to be strengthened? Where am I lacking hope? Let us pray. Jesus, I know you hold me in your hands but the Kingdom seems a long time coming. Be with me today. Give me strength. Give me hope in exchange for my fear. In the last year and half Manna Prayer has been contacted by people from around the world - from India and Pakistan, Kenya and South Africa, to Argentina, Malaysia and the Philippines. We thank all of you who have spread the word about Manna Prayer. Great things are happening. People are being healed and set free from their afflictions. God is on the move. Many people follow the blog and don't look at the rest of the website for Manna Prayer Ministries. We suggest you roam through the full site for yourself and recommend it to others who might find it useful. On the home page there is a phone number for calls for one-on-one prayer. The phone is not covered quite 24/7, but close. (If you live in Canada or Puerto Rico, we can call you at no cost. Just email your phone number to us and what time to call.) All emails are answered with a prayer specific to the request. If you appreciate the blog or other aspects of Manna Prayer, I hope you will take a moment to make a donation. It is tax-deductible in the U.S. What does the Kingdom of God on earth look like? Continuing with "proclaiming . . . recovery of sight to the blind" (Luke 4:18), what if recovery of sight meant physical healing instead of spiritual healing (or both spiritual and physical healing)? Jesus certainly made it a point to heal people while he was on earth and his mission was to proclaim the Kingdom of God on earth. So the healing of people with physical problems is evidence of the kingdom. I doubt that all people in healing professions would proclaim that they are helping to bring about the Kingdom, but they are because all wisdom and knowledge comes from God. All ability to help and to comfort is from God. Inspiration for cures comes from God too. Aside from people in the healing professions, people who pray for the healing of friends and loved ones are helping to bring about the Kingdom because in the Kingdom there is no sickness (physical, emotional or spiritual). There is no more death, no more crying. No one weeps in the Kingdom. For reflection: For whom do I need to pray today? If I see someone in the next few days, will I be open to God's prompting to pray with them in person? If I am in the healing professions, do I thank God every day for the privilege of helping to proclaim "sight to the blind". Do I know someone who is caring for a loved one at home? How can I offer a hand? Let us pray. Heavenly Father, there is so much work to do in the area of healing to bring about your Kingdom. We need more knowledge of how the human body works. We need more inspiration for cures. How can I help? What else might the Kingdom of God on earth look like? The next line from Isaiah, read by Jesus in the temple, is "recovery of sight for the blind" (Luke 4:18). This restoration of sight can be spiritual or physical. Either way it is a good thing and helps to bring about the Kingdom. Spiritual sight would mean that people would know God. If all people on earth knew God the world would be a different place. It would be a world of love and mercy, peace and justice. For if we know Christ and have the Spirit of God, then "we have the mind of Christ" as St. Paul says (1 Corinthians 2:16). Being like-minded in Christ is a recurring them for Paul. "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ . . if any fellowship with the Spirit . . . (have) the same love, (be) one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:1-5). For reflection: Do I know God? Do I have the Holy Spirit? To what extent am I spiritually blind? Do I really see other people and their needs? Let us pray. Jesus, I want to be like-minded with you. I want to see people the way you see them. I want to see people's actions and circumstances the way you see them. I want to help bring about the Kingdom of God on earth. Your kingdom come, your will be done. Lately I have been asking God for keys. (No, not car keys or house keys.) What is the key for healing autism? What is the key for healing multiple sclerosis? What is the key for healing down syndrome? What is the key for healing asthma or allergies? I haven't been asking for treatments, I've been asking keys to healing. When Jesus walked the earth, he healed people, he didn't treat them. He didn't offer a treatment to the 10 lepers. He didn't offer a treatment for blindness or lameness. That's not to say that I don't appreciate everything doctors today can do to treat and heal. I do appreciate them and their knowledge. But there are so many diseases for which we have no answers as to cause, no treatment for relief, and no cure. Jesus said, "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you (Luke 11:9). For reflection: Can we join together in asking God for keys to healing? What disease affects you or your family? Let us pray. Jesus, we are asking, we are seeking, we are knocking. Please give us the keys to open the doors of healing. Holy Spirit, author of hope, inspire us with the answers. Were these people who were healed or raised from the dead anybody special? Not necessarily. We don't know anything about Aeneas except that he had been bedridden for eight years. Tabitha though was well-loved for doing good and helping the poor. Perhaps she was a seamstress since the story mentions the clothing she had made (Acts 9:36-39). But the people healed by the disciples, and by Jesus, were ordinary people. They were not the leading citizens of the day, the politicians or the preachers. They didn't do anything to "earn" being healed or raised from the dead. It was just that someone loved them enough to bring them to Peter's attention. In Aeneas's case they asked for healing. In Tabitha's case they didn't even do that. They were already mourning her death and Peter had to send them out of the room so that he could pray, seek the Lord's guidance and act on it. We know from the Gospel accounts, Peter was not a perfect person. Presumably Aeneas and Tabitha were not perfect either. Healing does not seem to depend upon our perfection, but on God's. For reflection: Have I not asked for healing for myself because I didn't think I deserved it? Have I not prayed with someone else for their healing because I didn't think I was good enough? Let us pray. Father, I thank you that Jesus prayed for me before I ever heard of him. I thank you that Jesus died for me when I could never deserve such a sacrifice. I thank you that in your great goodness and your perfection you remember me every day whether I remember you or not. I thank you that others have prayed for me too. Now I offer myself to pray for others as you lead me to do so. "Please come at once!" the messengers urged Peter. The beloved Tabitha had died (Acts 9:36-43). Why send for Peter when someone has died? What did they expect him to do? Did they want him to be there to mourn with the community, or lead a memorial service? Or did they hope he would raise her from the dead? Peter expelled the crying mourners from the room. He knelt, prayed, and then commanded Tabitha to get up. As with Aeneas (Acts 9:32-36) we see Peter use the command, "Get up." We don't know what Peter prayed while kneeling. Perhaps he was seeking the Lord's direction on whether to raise the woman back to life or let her go. And hearing that direction, he simply commands her. The faith to command, as we mentioned last week, comes from knowing the Lord's will. The purpose of healing Aeneas and raising Tabitha was two-fold: it was for the benefit of the person and it was for the benefit of the many people who heard about it and believed. Many more people came to believe in Jesus because of Aeneas and Tabitha. For reflection: People are still being healed and raised from the dead today. They may live next door to us or they may live half-way round the world and we find their stories on YouTube. The question, though, is still the same as it was in the time of Jesus - will we believe? Let us pray. Lord Jesus, I pray with the father in Mark 9:24 - "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" |
AliceI started this website and blog on May 1, 2012. I am a Catholic who has been in ministry for many years. I first developed what I would call a close relationship with Jesus in the early 1970s. Ever since then I have been praying with people for healing and other needs. It is because I have seen so many of these prayers answered that I am so bold as to offer to pray for you individually through this website and phone line. Archives
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