17th Sunday in the ordinary time of the year C
Genesis 18:20-32 Colossians 2: 12-14 Luke 11:1-13
Theme: The power of prayer
On this 17th Sunday of the ordinary time of the year C, the church invites us to reflect on the power of prayer in our lives as children of God. There is no gain saying that we are all in need of prayer in our lives, and it will be very dangerous to underestimate the power of prayer in our life. Our Lord and master Jesus Christ, continually pointed out the fact that prayer is a necessity in our life, because before Jesus took any major decision according to the scriptures; he always prayed. We also see Jesus making out time to pray in today’s gospel reading before teaching his disciples the Lord’s Prayer. The fact that Jesus who is God always prayed, shows that prayer is a necessity in the life of all Christians; we cannot do without prayer in our life. It is our weapon of warfare and will always place us in an advantage position.
In the 1st reading we see Abraham our father in faith standing on the gap for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was a dialogue between him and God, as he seeks the mercy of God on behalf of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, using the righteous people to negotiate with God. As Christians and people of God, when we are prayerful, it gives us an edge over challenging situations that we encounter in our daily life. In prayer there is a dialogue between you and God that gives you an opportunity to have a better understanding of any difficulty that you encounter in your life. One thing that is worthy of note is the fact that if we truly want to pray, it needs discipline and commitment. Otherwise one may spend quite sometime in the church, yet he or she is distracted by other things and cannot concentrate to pray. This is one of the reasons why some of us can spend hours watching a movie without getting tired or be on the social media, but cannot spend thirty minutes to pray without dozing off to sleep.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus has given us a guideline that will help us attain salvation at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, it is now left for us to decide whether we want to go the way he has directed us or not; the choice is ours. However, it is also important to point out the fact that the challenges of life will not stop coming to us because we pray, just like in the life of Jesus, it simply means that we will be sure of victory at the end; because none of the situations will be able to overwhelm us because God will always be with us and fight our battles for us. Today is an opportunity for us to resolve to embrace a life of prayer as individuals and also as a family, is a sure hope for all those who believe in the power of prayer. When you pray you have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
Today as we encourage each other to embrace a life of prayer in our life and family, it is also an opportunity for us as we celebrate the world day of grandparents and the elderly to remember them in our prayers. It is our prayer that God will continue to strengthen them in good health and bless all those who care for them. May almighty God bless you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.