We all try to pray as often as we can. We try our hardest to carve out time into our busy days to give a few moments to our King, but do we really understand the magnitude of what we are doing? Prayer is so much more powerful then we humanly realize. Ever since I was little, my mom has told me and my brother to make the sign of the cross and say a prayer for the poor souls in purgatory every time we pass a cemetery. So I did, and now, however many years later, I still do. However, it wasn’t until recently that I realized that what I was doing was so powerful. I read something online a few days ago that said that when we pray for the poor souls in purgatory, hundreds of longing souls are entering the gates of heaven as we speak. I was shocked. I knew that praying for the souls in purgatory, and praying in general, was a good thing, but it wasn’t until reading that that I was reminded of how truly powerful our prayers are. Prayer is our only source of communication with God. It’s how we talk to Him, and how, if we listen, He talks to us. This past week, I went to a community center for mentally and physically disabled people with my sorority, and was again reminded of how strong our prayers truly are. We all sat down and the people who attended the center offered up their intentions and said a group prayer. I sat there amazed with tears in my eyes at the strength and power with which these people prayed. They spoke to God like a friend, and truly believed that God would answer what they were asking for. And that’s how we should all pray, with a belief that God has the ability to make whatever we pray for happen. So many times we say “Oh you’ll be in my prayers,” but how often do we truly mean that? Telling someone you’ll pray for them is not just a thoughtful thing to say, but a powerful thing to say. We throw those words around because many of us, myself included, forget the true power of prayer. Our prayers are much stronger than we truly realize, and it’s not until we recognize that power that we are able to understand the magnitude of God’s strength, mercy, and love.
XOXO, MC