Pray with Faith and Trust
I have never profited from the precious gift of holy faith … I intend to make at every infinitesimal moment as many acts of faith as you and your truth has revealed. (OOCC, X, p. 360; STA, 388)
According to St. Vincent Pallotti, a genuine prayer should be offered to God in faith and trust. Acknowledgement of God as one’s loving Father is the foundation of faith in him. A person’s prayer is heard when he believes in God’s promises and his love for him. St. Vincent never doubted in God’s love for him. Neither was he afraid of approaching God’s presence, though he was sinful. Even the sinful people of this world knew to do good to their children. If so, God, who is greater than these people of the world, would also give good things to his children. This gospel truth helped St. Vincent to stand before God without doubt and fear. His approaching God without doubt and fear, but in faith and trust, made him certain of God’s plan and its accomplishment in his life. Jesus’ assurance that whatever St. Vincent asked him in faith and trust would be granted to him and accomplished in his life, made him live his life with the certainty of the fulfillment of the promises of God. This certainty did not amount to mere expectation of something from God in the future, but rather it consisted of the faith that God’s promises were already present in his life. Thus, the prayer of faith and trust gave St. Vincent Pallotti the conviction that he was never alone and that God was always with him in whatever he did.
Do I approach God in prayer with faith and trust? Do I ever doubt God’s love for me? Do I trust in God’s promises? Does my faith help me to see the accomplishment of God’s promises in my life? Do I feel that I am alone in my life’s journey? Do I believe that God is an ever-present reality in my life?
Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive. (Mt. 21: 22)