Pray as if everything depends on you (Part I)

Living in today’s world, we see so much; we hear so much. At times we may feel there isn’t much we can do about the problems in this world. With today’s methods of communication we hear about deadly disease outbreaks and natural disasters soon after, if not before they happen. When I see all this stuff, I think to myself, “What could I possibly do? What difference can I make? I’m just one person out of billions of people, I couldn’t possibly make a difference. “

Matthew 17: 18-20 says,

“And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

It’s here we are told that our inability to make a difference is due to our little faith. Jesus tells us that nothing would be impossible if we had faith the size of a mustard seed. If you’ve never seen a mustard seed, those things are pretty small. After reading this, I felt kind of insulted. I thought that I had a great faith and that I could move mountains, when in reality, I was offended because it brought me to the realization that my faith was smaller than a mustard seed.

There is this saying that is often attributed to St. Ignatius. “Pray as if everything depends on God, work as if everything depends on you”. To me however, I prefer to reverse it, hence the name of this article: pray as if everything depends on you. Imagine for a moment that God had no idea what was going on here on earth, and the only way for Him to find out was through our prayers to Him. It may seem like it puts a ton of responsibility on us, as it should, but if we really want to make a difference in this world we should show some responsibility for it. We need to show Him that we really mean it. When we pray like everything depends on us, we will see our faith grow beyond that of a mustard seed. We will see mountains move before us and we will see this world come back to life.

– Deus vult

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One response to “Pray as if everything depends on you (Part I)”

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    This is one of my favorite Bible quotes. It suggests to me that you must be clear on what it is you want to happen in you life. If it is good, than move toward it with confidence and purpose, knowing that almighty God will create the conditions to make it possible.Thank you for all the wonderful Bible quotes. They are an inspiration to me and others. Greg