Fr Mike Schmitz is a well-known priest and podcaster in the United States and among Catholics across the world. At the end of every podcast, he signs off with, “I’m praying for you, please pray for me”. Some listeners might find this predictable sign-off as a bit monotonous, but viewing the Facebook posts associated with the podcast, I’ve noticed many listeners take it as a call to action, a call to prayer.
Offering to pray for someone is not uncommon among those who share the Christian faith. It can be a great source of comfort to know that someone is taking the time to pray to God for you, especially in times of distress or at the loss of a loved one. When natural disasters or other tragedies strike, it is not uncommon to even hear politicians and civic leaders publicly declare they are keeping the affected people in their prayers.
But do you believe in the power of prayer? If you do pray, how do you feel when prayers seem to go unanswered? These are reasonable questions, and even people of great faith have difficulty in understanding God’s will when their prayers aren’t answered in the way they would hope.
The reality is that even when we are doing our best to keep our lines of communication open with God – through prayer – we are still sometimes unable to fathom why God does what God does! And at other times, in hindsight, God’s plan becomes beautifully clear, and we grasp the why of what God has allowed to happen.
If you are on the journey of discovering more about prayer and God’s will for you, we invite you to explore the Discovering Prayer section of our new website, Becoming Catholic. On this site you can also read about the person of Jesus, life in the Catholic community and find answers to frequently asked questions.
Discovering God and what it means to be Catholic is our new book containing the introductory text found on the website. You can obtain a free copy of this book and Discovering Prayer from our website. If you would like to go deeper into the Catholic faith, then we invite you to explore Evangelise Plus, our video library featuring Australian Catholics who love and live their faith.
As Fr Mike says, until next month, I’m praying for you, please pray for me.
Links
What is prayer?
What are some common Catholic prayers?
The Bible in a Year Podcast (Fr Mike Schmitz)
The Catechism in a Year Podcast (Fr Mike Schmitz)
Image: Lightstock
Words: Sharon Brewer