Orthodox Sermons & Articles

But many times Jesus went also to the remote places to pray to his Father in private. During His private prayers or conversations He expressed his own feelings and needs as a real man. We also need this kind of prayer especially when we are alone in the house or somewhere else or when we feel need in prayer. So, besides public prayer, Jesus taught us to pray in private: "But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father Who is in secret place; and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly." So, my dear, these two kinds of prayers go one beside the other, and we have to fulfill the commandments of Jesus Christ concerning both of them.

 

But there is one more variety of prayer. About this prayer we read in today’s gospel. This prayer is without any word but is based as well as any other prayer on firm faith those who accomplish it. We can call it the prayer of deed. Today’s Gospel reading reveals to us this kind of prayer to show us that helping each other in real time is our duty as Christians. Giving practical help to those in need we follow today’s Gospel’s teaching. Look at those four who carry their friend on the bed! They are filled with confidence of Christ’s power to heal. Who knows how far that paralytic lived from the place where Jesus preached at the time? But, as St. Luke the Evangelist witnesses in his Gospel, they carry their sick friend, take apart the roof of the building where Jesus is preaching and let him down with his bed through the opening they’ve just made into the midst before Jesus. Was it their prayer? Of course it was. Did Jesus Christ listen to their prayer of deed? No doubt. The Gospel says that "Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, ‘Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven you." What a beautiful example for all of us! Here we find strength to pray at home in private or during the public prayers because the Lord Himself assures that through the prayers of others our sins might be forgiven. What a great news for every one who listens to it and who visits Church for public prayer!

 

Dear brothers and sisters, this is very important for us to realize that we need prayer and we have to pray at home as well as in Church. Prayer unites our hearts together with love and compassion. It gives us strength to fight sometimes even deadly illnesses. Prayer gives us hope and faith. Christianity teaches us that there are three main virtues without which we cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. They are: faith, hope and love. We have to exercise them in our hearts. In the example with today’s paralytic, if those four would be short on one of these virtues, the healing would not take place. Only seeing their faith based on true love and intensified by hope, Jesus performs miracle. "Take up your pallet and go to your house." Therefore, lets keep our faith strong, our hope continuous and our love inexhaustible.

 

Today I’d like to say a few words about what we should expect from the outside world when we pray. And this matter is pointed out in today’s Gospel as well. The Gospel says, "And behold, some of the scribes said within themselves, ‘This Man blasphemes." Beside the good deed there is always an evil one. Those Scribes could not stand that somebody had been healed and they have nothing to do with this. In this world as well as in the Gospel reading there always are some who are ready to laugh at you prayer or say mean words in your address. There always were and will be unbelievers who in order to cover their unwillingness to pray will say that you are insane if you pray for your enemies. But if you do not pay attention to them you will be blessed and your prayer will be heard. Exactly this happened in the Gospel reading today. Those four together with the paralytic himself kept their faith strong and hope unbreakable what made the miracle possible. This is what we have to do in the time when somebody tries to take us away from Jesus Christ and His Church. We should not listen to them but to Jesus Christ Who is our Savior. If the Paralytic did not listen to Jesus, he would’ve not been healed because for healing we have to entrust ourselves entirely in the hands of God. We cannot escape those who do evil work. They are part of our life too. As we would say in modern language, they are part of the package. But we have to be strong in following Christ Jesus and follow Him to the end.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, knowing that our prayer plays very important role in our life, let’s exercise in it. Let’s pray at home every morning and every evening and not only when we feel bad. Let’s pray on every occasion in our life, whether we rejoice or weep. Let’s give thanks to God Who teach us to be strong and fruitful in our life. Let’s also come to church to pray together for each other. Please, do not neglect this church prayer. We do not know when we need somebody’s prayer, but our Heavenly Father does. And if we happened not to be in Church in that particular time, we could easily be captured by evildoers who could harm not only our body but our soul too. Although I do not like to keep us together by frightening, this is the reality of today’s world. I am not the one who likes to say to people scary stories in order to bring them to church; therefore I ask you, please, come to church not because of fear but because of love to Jesus Christ. I strongly believe that our prayers will be heard by our Lord and they will be fruitful. May the Merciful Lord help us on our way to Him! Amen.