A Call to Prayer

 

  I recently felt that the Holy Spirit was saying,

   “In this time of darkness, you who love Me, you who follow Me; pray for my children who live in darkness.  As the evil in this world increases, your prayers for the world must increase.”

 And then several areas that especially need prayer came to me.

   Pray that many will come to repentance for their sins.

  Pray more fervently for my children who are lost, who are deceived by the spirits of this age.

Pray that the hearts of mothers would be turned to the children growing within them and let them live.

  Pray for deliverance for those who are oppressed by perverse spirits; those with same-sex attraction; those with gender identity problems.

  Pray for an end to the sexual exploitation of children and young adults.

  Pray for young people, that they would see through the lies taught to them and come to know the truth.

  Pray for love and unity in marriages and family life.

  Pray that young people will choose to marry and establish families and not cohabit.

  Pray for conversion throughout the land.

  Pray that people will return to their churches, to worship and praise the God who made them.

 After I wrote them down, I noticed that there were ten intentions, just enough for one decade of the rosary.

And so I invite you to also to pray for these intentions. If you like, you can pray one decade of your daily rosary for them.

Why Our Prayers May Not Be Answered

 

We all pray. When Jesus lived on earth He taught us The Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, as a model of how to pray. When teaching it He did not say “If you pray”; He said when you pray. This, as well as many other passages in the New Testament tells us it is God’s Will that we pray.

  You may have learned that when we pray God’s answer is either “Yes”, “No”, or “Not right now”. That is true, but there are also some things that can block our prayers from being answered. I would like to mention a few.

 

You husbands, too, must show consideration for those who share your lives. Treat women with respect.... If you do so, nothing will keep your prayers from being answered.”  1 Peter 3:7

 

This passage tells us that if you do not live considerately with your spouse and honor him, your prayers may not be answered. (Even though the Scripture passage is addressed to husbands, I’m sure it applies to wives as well.)

 

If any of you is without wisdom, let him ask it from the God who gives generously and ungrudgingly to all, and it will be given him. Yet he must ask in faith, never doubting, for the doubter is like the surf tossed and driven by the wind. A man of this sort, devious and erratic in all that he does, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  James 1:5-7

 

If you have doubt that God can or will answer your prayers it can interfere with God answering them. This is especially true when praying for healing. There are many other passages in the New Testament where Jesus speaks of the need for faith before He is able to act.

 

You ask and you do not receive because you ask wrongly, with a view to squandering what you receive on your pleasures.  James 4:3

 

God may not answer your prayer if you have selfish motives.

 

Were I to cherish wickedness in my heart, the Lord would not hear…

Psalm 66:18

 

If you harbor evil in your heart, it will block your prayers.

 

These are by no means an exhaustive list, just some areas to examine before you pray or if your prayers don’t seem to be answered.