Here we are reflecting on prayer, i.e. how to pray. Many people complain that they pray so much but God does not answer their prayers. There are so many who are confused and worried that their prayers are not being answered.

There are many reasons why our prayers are not answered or do not seem to be answered. Truly speaking, every time we pray, God answers every prayer that we make. If God is not answering our prayer, it means there is some reason behind it. In this article we will discuss the most important reasons.

Deuteronomy 23:14 – “because the LORD your God travels along with your camp, to save you and to hand over your enemies to you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you”.

The Lord is travelling with us wherever we go. God is with us. ‘God is with your camp’ means, God is with us where we stay. God comes to our houses, to our rooms, to our body, our pocket and our mobile. God’s presence is everywhere. He is ready to come and save us. God is ready to heal us. He is ready to deliver us. God travels along with our camp, to save us and to hand over our enemies to us. Enemy means the evil one – the Satan. 

Sometimes God does not seem to be helping us and the devil is always attacking us. It is because our camp must be unholy. That is why God is not saving us or supporting us. If there is anything indecent or unholy in your home, in your pocket, in your mobile and in your body, in your house – anything that is desecrating your body and family- anything evil, God says, “ I will turn away from your home”.

Many people do so many prayers, but there are a lot of unholy things in their homes – Unholy actions, unholy behaviour and unholy things such as alcohol, drugs and drinks. Also these houses indulge in all unholy actions – watching of unholy videos, black magic, unnecessary idol worshipping, wrong gods, etc. As a result, the presence of God leaves them. Thus, this is what happens when there are unholy things in your houses. 

What will happen if there are unholy things on our tongues? If we speak bad words, abusive language, dirty jokes, dirty connotations, gossip, unholy comments and swearing words, then how can we expect God to answer our prayers, when we pray with the same unholy tongue?

Isaiah 58:9 – “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, “Here I am”. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,”

Anytime we call God, He says, “here I am my child, did you call me? I am ready to help you”. If anyone calls Fr. Joseph, he will immediately turn to the person and say, “tell me what happened? Do you need my help? How can I help you?” Fr. will respond immediately. If he is alive and can hear, he has to answer to those who call him. He will say “Tell me how I can help you?”

If he a human being with all his weaknesses will listen to the cry of the people who call out to him, then how much more the loving Lord will do for us the moment we cry for help? He will say “Here I am.” When we call our father or mother, they respond to us immediately and say “Here I am my child, did you call me?” The same thing happens with God, when we call out to Him, the Lord says, “Here I am. Tell me, what do you want me to do for you?”

It is so beautiful. It is so wonderful. In fact, that is what exactly happens in our lives and God says, “I am ready, I will do it.” God says, “You should cry for help and I will say here I am”.  It’s a promise from God but with conditions and the conditions are – God says, “Do not carry your burdens. Do not give your burdens to others. Give all your burdens to me, not others.”

Secondly, pointing of the fingers on others – i.e. blaming, insulting and attacking others. Some people always blame their husbands.  They say, it is all because of my husband this happened. Some people blame their wives. Some blame their children. Some blame their parents.  People always point fingers to someone else but they never point their fingers at themselves. So, remove the yoke from among you and stop pointing fingers at others. 

Many a times when people come for spiritual sharing, even when they have only 10 minutes, they will spend 9 minutes in blaming others. It is a waste of time for both the one who is blaming and the person who is listening. This only increases our sins. Instead, if we just say, “I am sorry Lord”, immediately we will get absolution and we can go in peace. Instead we are always blaming others. We should stop attacking, blaming, insulting, hurting, wounding and accusing others. 

Thirdly, we should stop speaking evil – talking evil about others. Sometimes we speak evil about ourselves also. We say we are attacked by the evil spirit. We feel someone has done some black magic on us; some evil spirit is in the house. As though the whole world is full of black magic and all are busy doing black magic on us. This kind of thinking is evil. We believe in negative things. Even if there is evil in the house or someone has done some black magic on us, just remember that the one who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world.

If anyone says, “somebody has done black magic on me. I am gone, I am frightened, etc.” It means that they don’t believe in Jesus Christ. They don’t have faith in Jesus Christ. They trust in the black magic more than in the power of Jesus. Stop glorifying black magic. Stop glorifying witchcraft. Stop glorifying all the powers of the darkness and start glorifying the Almighty God. 

The one who is in us is greater. The one who is with us is powerful. The one whom we believe is Almighty God. The one who follows us is the Sovereign God. Believe in that. Speak always about Jesus. Speak about Holiness and God and not about evil and negativity in your family. Speak about the Word of God. Speak about Jesus. Speak about how good He is. How great He is.

When a husband and wife come together and have already shared your loving conversation and don’t have any other topic to discuss, before you enter into in-laws and problems and issues, start speaking about Jesus. Communicate and discuss about the Bible. Discuss the Word of God. Listen to the Word of God. If you don’t know what to discuss, at least listen to the Word of God. Stop speaking evil.

Isaiah 58:10 – “if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday”.

Be charitable and helpful to others. Then all your prayers will be answered. God will be there standing next to you saying, “Here I am”. 

Jeremiah 15:19 – Therefore thus says the LORD: If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth. It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them.

God says, “You should utter, what is precious. If you speak only good things – Holy things, no gossip, no accusation, no insult, no swearing words – but always speak good things, then your mouth will be like my mouth”.

Whatever we say will happen. Just like when God says something it happens. Same way if we say something, it will happen; provided we never use swearing words. The Devil knows that if our tongue is unholy, our prayers will never be answered. These days every child, every youth and every person is tempted to speak bad words and swearing words. By using swearing words in every sentence we are not going to gain anything. But our impression in the society will be reduced. Still people use bad words in front of husbands, in front of wives, parents and children.

People do not know the harm that they are doing to others. But still, they don’t mind taking the risk of harming themselves and their family by using bad words. People do not realise their tongue is desecrated. Afterwards in the evening, when they come in the presence of God and make the family prayer, their prayer will never be heard. It is because their tongue is unholy. If the tongue is desecrated then their prayer will never be answered. The Bible says, “If you utter what is precious and not what is worthless, then you shall serve as my mouth”.

Psalm 34:12-13 – “Which of you desires life, and covets many days to enjoy good?  Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit”. 

How many of us want to lead a peaceful happy family life? Then God says, “Keep your tongue away from evil and keep your lips from speaking deceit”. If we keep these two things, we will be peaceful. If we keep quiet, that itself brings peace in our family. If at all we want to speak something, then we should speak only Holy things. Keep your tongue from evil; and your lips from speaking deceit.

Proverbs 4:23-25 “²³Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. ²⁴Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. ²⁵Let your eyes look directly forward and your gaze be straight before you”.

Let your eyes look directly forward. That means look only to God. Do not look at your neighbour. Do not look at your mother-in-law. Do not look at your daughter-in-law or son-in-law or father-in-law. Don’t look at anyone, but just look at Jesus. Jesus is our destination. No husband, no wife, no mother-in-law nor your neighbour is. Just look at Jesus. Your gaze should be straight on Jesus. 

Zechariah 8:16 – These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another, render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace.

Never do any business with evil intentions. Even in your business, do not lie. Any business where you lie will never prosper. In any business that you do with others, be truthful to that person. Never lie nor cheat that person. Never do any business which is evil – such as liquor business or alcohol business. It will never help you. Many people come and say “if there is no liquor being sold in this business, I cannot run this business”. 

People love liquor. They all come to the shop only if there is alcohol. That means you are going according to the current of the river. You have no courage to stand against the evil. You are afraid that you may lose your business. So, in the name of losing the business, you are compromising and making a set-up with the devil. Never compromise with the evil one. If there is anything evil in your business, the presence of God will leave your house. As is written in Deuteronomy 23:14 – if there is anything indecent or unholy in your business, in your work or in your house, the presence of God will leave that house. Then only the devil and Satan will be there to help you.

The devil will make sure that you will be destroyed and you will lose all the money. Whatever you have spent even that will be taken away from you. It is because your company and your trust is not in Jesus Christ. You trust the evil one and you say “only if I join with the evil, my business will be successful”. That is how the devil lies to the world. But now people have come to the conclusion that, if you are good, you cannot be successful. That is how devil is fooling us now. Be truthful always. If you are a disaster because you are being truthful, then you will be a Saint in the presence of God. You will enter into eternal life. Otherwise, you are entering into damnation – eternal damnation. That is the result of the wicked in the end. 

Zechariah 8:17 – “do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, says the Lord”.

Many times, people devise evil against their own siblings. Many file cases against their own siblings for ancestral properties. They plan evil things. They team up with the lawyer and file cases against their own people. Husbands send divorce notices to their wives and wives send divorce notices to their husbands. They exaggerate things and bring up all unnecessary things that happen in the family. They keep on telling lies after lies, just to establish their point and to get support of the Court. They speak lies through the lawyers. The lawyer who is encouraging the lie and the person who is telling the lie, both are answerable in front of God. It is because you are doing something that God hates. 

God said, “All these things I hate. Do not device evil in your hearts against one another and love no false oath”. Never love, never encourage and never support any false promise or anything false. The Bible says, God hates all these things. If you speak lies, you are doing and speaking something which God hates. If you are planning evil against one another, you are doing something God hates. 

Colossians 3:8 – But now you must get rid of all such things: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth.

Avoiding bad language is not some generosity that we do. Some people say, “I wanted to say something bad, but I just controlled myself. I am so generous and magnanimous to others”. This kind of an attitude is a sign that you are already with the devil. Avoiding bad language and swearing words is not a huge generosity that we show to others. 

But it is a duty. We must get rid of this bad habit. It is not a choice but that is the only choice we have.

Psalm 50:15 – “Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me”

God says, to all those who are in trouble, “call on me, and I will deliver you. You shall glorify me”. 

Who are these people when they call during their trouble, God will deliver them and they will glorify him? Many times when we are in trouble and we call God, He delivers us. But instead of glorifying God, we say, “I worked hard, it is my intelligence, my connections” and we glorify ourselves. But those who really depend on God and they call on God when they are in trouble, God says, “I will deliver them”.

Psalm 50:16 – “But to the wicked God says: ‘What right have you to recite my statutes, or take my covenant on your lips?'”

God says, “those who call on me in trouble, I will help them. I will deliver them. But the wicked people – those who lie, those who use bad words, those who have evil things, those who do not go for confession, those who do not reconcile with their enemies, those who keep unholy relationships – to them the Lord says, “What right have you to come and pray in the presence of God?”

“What right do you have to take my covenant on your lips?” What does it mean taking the Covenant on your lips? What is Covenant? The new Covenant means the Eucharist – taking the Eucharist on your lips. 

How can you do it when you are not connected to God and when you are not holy? Many people come to receive communion without even the confession. When they are asked, “when was your last confession?” they say that it was some years back. It feels like maybe they are talking about their First Holy Communion. Though they have not confessed their sins for many years, yet they are not tired of committing more sins. When they come for Holy Mass, they open their mouth and receive communion without any prick of conscience.

The Lord says, “What right have you to take my Covenant on your lips”. 

How can you take the Holy Eucharist on your lips when you are not holy?

To the wicked people the Lord says, “Before receiving Holy Communion, go for a thorough confession”. If we have done our confession some months back, it is necessary for us to go for confession again. We commit so many sins and without any repentance and reconciliation, we just go and receive Holy Communion. We behave as though there is a chocolate distribution going on in the Church. It is not just a small piece of bread that is being distributed. It is the body of Christ. Only when there is Holiness, we can receive the body of Christ.

Christ’s body is the Holiest in the whole World. To receive him, we should be holy. That is why God has given us the sacrament of confession. We have to be holy. If we have committed any sin – any serious sin or mortal sin, anything that we have done purposely or knowingly, with full consent – then we should not receive communion, unless and until we go for confession and get rid of it. We need to take this very seriously.

There are so many people who go for Holy Mass and receive Holy Communion without any repentance, without any Act of Contrition and without any regret. These spiritual practices are the foundation of our faith. We should take it seriously, not lightly. Many people may not be taught about the seriousness of these things.

That is the reason the quality of the Church is reducing. It is why many people are denying their faith and going away from the Church. We are not strong in our faith. We are not strengthening our foundation. Our children do not know what to do. They go for mass and receive communion. But they forget that they have to go for confession whenever they commit sin. 

It is because their parents did not tell them. The Priests did not tell them. Nobody told them. So they do not know the seriousness of receiving Holy Communion in a worthy manner. 

Psalm 50:17 – “For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you”.

The Lord says, “What right do you have to come and pray in front of me? What right do you have to receive the Holy Communion when you hate discipline”? 

When the Church tells you to do something you don’t listen. When your parents tell you to do something you don’t listen. You don’t care to follow holiness and all these things, which you are supposed to do. Instead, you listen to the society.  The words of the society, the rules of the society, are your Bible and not the Word of God. When society says to have abortion, homosexual unions, divorce, you are fine with it. But when the Bible says something, you don’t take it seriously.

Lord says, “You hate discipline and you cast away my words behind you and don’t listen to my words”.

You listen to the words of the Prime Minister, leaders, some groups and political parties. You are so disciplined with them, but not disciplined with the Words of the Lord. You hate discipline and cast God’s words behind you. You don’t want to read the Bible. You don’t want to follow God’s Words.

Psalm 50:18 – “You make friends with a thief when you see one, and you keep company with adulterers”. 

When you see the majority are doing evil, you will join them. The majority are supporting abortion, you will join with them. The majority are supporting Gay marriages, you will join with them. That is why even the Catholic countries are passing the rule which is against the Divine Law. Though the majority are Catholics, still they are supporting this evil because you make friendship with the thief. You keep company with adulterers.

Psalm 50:19 – “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit”.

A majority use swearing words. When you go to the schools and colleges, you feel out of place – because everyone is using swearing words. In order to be their friend and keep company with them, you also start using abusive language. Though you know it is evil, though you know your Church, your religion forbids it, you know Bible is against it, but just to survive you join with them.

Initially you feel guilty and after sometime it becomes a part of your life. You give your mouth free reign to do evil. Initially there is no freedom but after sometime you will be free and your tongue frames deceit.

Psalm 50:20 – “You sit and speak against your kin; you slander your own mother’s child”

Whenever you have a conversation or communication, you speak against your own family. You slander your own mother’s child. You speak against your own brother, mother, husband, wife and children.

Psalm 50:21 – “These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you, and lay the charge before you”.

God says, “Even though you were doing all these things, I did not do anything. I was silent. You thought that I am just like yourself”. You thought ‘God will keep silence. Nothing will happen to me. I can continue like this’. Majority of the people in this world think they have escaped, even though they are supporting all kinds of evil and evil laws. They think everything will be fine. They think God will not do anything. But God may abandon us. 

God says, “Now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. All these days I was silent”.  But one day the Lord will break his silence. He will move away from us.

Psalm 50:22 – “Mark this, then, you who forget God, or I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver”.

The day will come when nobody will be able to deliver us. It is because God’s presence will leave us. So, let us examine our conscience and promise God and ask Him to help us to be Holy as He is Holy.

Transcribed by Greta Furtado