A Powerful PrayerSample

Answers to prayer require preparation!

A rather lazy student noticed that a friend of his could always memorize his lessons well, so he asked him, "How come you can always memorize lessons perfectly?" His friend replied, "I always pray that I can memorize all the lessons well."

"Is that true?" asked the rather lazy student. "In that case, I will also pray."

However, the next morning, the boy could not even repeat a single word of his assigned lesson. Confused, the boy ran to his friend and denounced his friend as a liar. "I've been praying," he said, "but I can't remember a single word of my study."

"Maybe," said his friend, "it happened because you weren't studying hard enough."

"Oh, I do not study at all," replied the boy. "Because I think I don’t have to study if I've been praying about it."

Reflection:

Often we have things to do in our prayers before God answers them. Faith and works will go hand in hand with God's power to answer our prayers. Are we willing to walk in faith while waiting for God's answers? Let us continue to persevere in prayer and do what we must do for God to reveal His glory.

Pray as if everything depends on God, and work as if everything depends on you.

(Ignatius of Loyola)