5.19 So many people are praying: why is there no end to disaster?

We are told to believe in the power of prayer, but so many big and small tragedies take place in spite of our honest prayer for a better outcome! Do not get discouraged!

Prayer is important: For starters, it is a way of being connected with God. As such, it is a foretaste and a beginning of what awaits us in heaven. Remember Jesus’ own words when he was asking God for a great favour in his prayer: “Not my will but yours be done” (Lk 22:42). If that is our honest attitude, we can indeed implore God to help, to heal, to take away suffering… And God will listen to our prayers and give us all that is good for us! (Mt 6:6). Here are a few reasons why it may seem there is no answer.

1. God’s perspective is greater than ours. It may be only much later that you realise how he was present and helped in a difficult situation. Often God helps in a very different way than we asked or expected.

2. Sometimes we pray for the wrong things or with the wrong attitude (Jas 4:2-3). Prayer is more than sending your “shopping list” to God. Prayer is first of all about a selfless relationship with God.

3. Often, the best help you can get is the presence of a friend: Jesus is with you especially when things are difficult. By praying you open yourself to his presence. Nothing else is as important, for with him you can face everything (Phil 4:13).

4. The sudden help offered by another person can be literally godsent. Very often God’s intervention respects that natural course of events: such everyday miracles are more common than you think!.

5. Jesus did not take away all suffering. Healing here on earth is not the core of his message. He primarily came to give a new perspective: that of a better life yet to come in heaven with our loving Father, a life that will last eternally.