Readings: 2 Corinthians 11:1-11; Psalm 111; Matthew 6:7-15
Have you ever fallen victim to swindlers or fraudsters? Can you recall the experience?
Many people have lost their hard-earned money, properties or even their lives to fraudsters.
Several times, I have also received calls or messages from such people narrating one story or the other just to extort money from me. Some of them are unskilled in this dirty business while some are so sophisticated and convincing that if we are not careful and discerning, we may fall victim unsuspectingly.
In the first reading of today, St Paul was addressing a situation in Corinth, some deceivers came and claimed to be better apostles than Paul, they were very eloquent, passionate and sophisticated in speeches that many of the Corinthians believed them and even contributed money for them.
Without discernment, we become naive and susceptible to deception.
Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit that helps us to know what is right from what is wrong, what is true from what is false, what is of God and what is not of God, it is God’s warning signal. This is what many Christians lack today.
We also need this discernment when we pray. Many of us judge the efficacy of prayers by length or eloquence. We need to discern how to approach God properly in prayers.
Jesus tells us today that the efficacy of prayer doesn’t depend on length or eloquence. We are not to pray to inform God of our need or to impress Him or people by fine words. Interestingly, many people today are training themselves to pray with fine words, many are rehearsing how to pray in tongues, learning how to pray to impress and appeal to the people listening.
What makes a prayer efficacious?
I. The state of the heart- a heart that loves God, that is truly present at prayer and able to forgives others.
II. The quality of faith- Praying and trusting that God is a loving Father, ever-present, who hears us and He will act accordingly.
III. A powerful prayer is a prayer that seeks to obtain what God wills. It places God’s will above its request. Prayer is not meant to control God or dictate to Him but to express our needs, our dependence on Him and then to surrender all of these to His wisdom and goodness.
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on June 17. 2021.