Prayers.

I remember reading a friend's rant on facebook long time ago about hearing her neighbors pray a repetitive prayer and how much it annoys her. I was so tempted to comment and explain because I was insulted about how she described it in her post. I  already typed my comment but deleted it and decided to let go. I know she's talking about The Rosary because it was October. She has her own beliefs and I have mine; what's the point of arguing, it's not like my comment is going to make her reflect.

I am a Catholic. I pray the "generic prayers", as what other Christians would describe Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be and etc. I also believe in the power of saying the rosary. I still don't know how to defend my beliefs but I have always been sure about my faith. I believe that faith is something that we can't explain. Everything boils down to love. God loves us first and because of His great love for us we learn how to love and share love. Our faith should equal to love and it should let us see the goodness in what other people do.

Today's gospel is from Luke 11: 1-13 where it tells us about the time when Jesus taught his disciples the Our Father prayer but not only that, the gospel also mentioned some points that I want us to reflect on.

8	I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it to him for friendship's sake, persistence will make him get up and give his friend all he wants.
9	And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10	For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11	What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;
12	or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13	If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

The gospel is teaching us about the power of prayer. PUSH! Pray until something happens; but we should also be reminded about the last verse on Luke 11:13. God is telling us that he already knows what to give us. He knows what is good for us. Praying will never change God's plan for us. We pray to keep our connection to Him. Prayer is not meant to change His decisions but it is meant to change our hearts, to prepare ourselves for His great plan, for us to eventually learn how to trust Him and to let go of our worries, fears and selfishness. We pray until something happens to our hearts and not to the plans that we made for ourselves. For God is a loving and a merciful God, He sees us and the bigger picture of our life. He only wants the best for us.

But God, just like any other parent also knows how to give us the tough love. He will never control us. If we are too stubborn, He will also gives us the chance to do things our way. Just like what my mom would always say, "God will also let us do things the way we wanted it to be but our way doesn't mean that we will be happy. We might end up being miserable and of course, because He is a loving God, He will still rescue us. He will still save us but that's only after we face the consequences of our disobedience." We should pray and then make a decision; We shouldn't decide and then pray.

The rosary might be a repetitive prayer but it is still a prayer. It sends people in a state of meditation and reconnects them to God. Saying the rosary reminds us about God's love for us through the sacrifices of Jesus. The rosary is a prayer given by Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus who witnessed His great love for us. Each prayer of the bead in the rosary overflows the love of God for us and the love that He poured unto Mother Mary.

We pray for the Holy Spirit to pour into our hearts the kind of grace Mary has, the kind of love she has for Jesus. We also pray for a great love that will lead us to a strong commitment to ourselves and to others.

Let's pray that we may stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life.