Prayfor2

Why should we pray?

Because it’s healthy for us to communicate with the author of our life. In return, we open the tap of grace that God wants to pour into our lives, far beyond the small measure we give Him.

It’s like the widow that the prophet Elijah visited in the Old Testament book of 1st Kings.

“Elijah called to the widow, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” And Elijah said, “Fear not; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” She went and did as Elijah said; and she, and he, and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not spent, neither did the cruse of oil fail.”

Let’s pray – Father of Grace and Mercy. Help us recommit to prayerful conversation with you. May you bless our small cake of sacrifice with your loving grace that will not be spent, and will never fail. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. You can find them at Prayfor2.com, and on the Redeemer Radio app.

As we walk together through the Coronavirus outbreak, it’s essential to approach it with prudence and courage, based on the promise that God takes care of his people. For every challenge we encounter, our loving father delivers us through it.

Said another way, for every trial, there is consolation.

Today, let’s pray from Psalm 34, titled, “Praise from Deliverance from Trouble,” trusting that God will provide deliverance through these troubling times.

“I will bless the Lord at all times;

his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the Lord;

let the afflicted hear and be glad.

O magnify the Lord with me,

and let us exalt his name together!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me,

and delivered me from all my fears.

Look to him, and be radiant;

so your faces shall never be ashamed.

This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,

and saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps

around those who fear him, and delivers them.

O taste and see that the Lord is good!

Happy is the man who takes refuge in him!”

Let’s pray. Father of Grace and Mercy. You bear us in love as our great protector and deliverer. Help infuse us with faith to be prudent and courageous through our fear. May we continue to bless you at all times, knowing that you are good, and trusting that through every trial there is consolation. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Prayfor2, two minute prayer reflections on the daily scripture readings of the Church. You can find them anytime at Prayfor2.com, Soundcloud, YouTube or the Redeemer Radio app.

Saint Paul said that love is patient, love is kind. But have you have thought of love as a mighty power?

Today, let’s pray on a passage from Thomas A’Kempis’ book, “The Inner Life.”

“Love is a mighty power, a great and complete good; Love alone lightens every burden, and makes the rough places smooth. It bears every hardship as though it were nothing, and renders all bitterness sweet and acceptable.

The love of Jesus is noble, and inspires us to great deeds; it moves us always to desire perfection.

Love aspires to high things, and is held back by nothing base. Love longs to be free, a stranger to every worldly desire, lest its inner vision become dimmed, and lest worldly self-interest hinder it or ill-fortune cast it down.

Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing wider, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in heaven or earth; for love is born of God, and can rest only in God above all created things.

Love flies, runs, leaps for joy; it is free and unrestrained. Love gives all for all, resting in One who is highest above all things, from whom every good flows and proceeds. Love does not regard the gifts, but turns to the Giver of all good gifts.

Love knows no limits, but ardently transcends all bounds. Love feels no burden, takes no account of toil, attempts things beyond its strength; love sees nothing as impossible, for it feels able to achieve all things. Love therefore does great things; it is strange and effective; while he who lacks love faints and fails.” Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Find them anytime at Prayfor2.com, and the Redeemer Radio app.

The Righteousness of Faith - Romans 4:13, 16-18, 22 (290) 2/15/2020

Saint Paul went to great pains to explain to the new followers of Jesus Christ that it is our faith working in love that saves us, not our works by themselves. We don’t save ourselves – it is God who saves us. It reminds us that everything is a gift from Him, including the invitation to freely accept His love, His grace and His mercy.

It reorients our focus from self to God - from self-reliance to reliance on Him.

Let’s listen to Paul’s letter to the Romans:

The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations; as he had been told, “So shall your descendants be.” That is why his faith was “reckoned to him as righteousness.”

Let’s Pray – Father of Grace and Mercy. Help lead us to a life that acknowledges everything is a gift from you. May all see the righteousness of our faith, working in love, giving glory to you. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen anytime at prayfor2.com, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

As an agnostic and a sociologist, I always had a yearning for the truth. I just didn’t know where to find it when it came to faith.

My path paralleled that of the author G.K. Chesterton, who discovered the teachings of Jesus and His Church validated what he had seen in the natural order of the world, and documented it in his book, “Orthodoxy.”

Many struggle with the life and teachings of Jesus, who wasn’t just a prophet or messenger – he claimed to be God. Those in authority during Jesus’ life knew their power was threatened and wanted him killed. Thomas Jefferson famously cut the stories of Jesus’s miracles out of his bible.

It can all seem too fantastic to believe.

Unless it’s true.

And it is. As he said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”

Let’s listen today to a reading from John’s gospel,

On the last day of the feast, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.”

The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!”

Let’s pray. Jesus the Christ. No man ever spoke like you. Help us to accept your hard truths, knowing they rest in your overarching love. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen anytime at prayfor2.com, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

Everything has its time.

During Lent, it is our time of reflection and penance. We spiritually spend time in the desert as Jesus did to take an inventory of where are not doing well, and actively work to be better. We make sacrifices, working to eliminate vices and build virtues in their place.

Today, let’s recognizing this special time in the Church year with an Old Testament reading from Ecclesiastes:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Let’s Pray – Father of Grace and Mercy. Help us to see that everything has its time. May this time in the spiritual desert of Lent help clean the darkness of our soul, that we may more brightly reflect the light of your love into the world. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen anytime at prayfor2.com, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

Sacrifice.

There is a nearly universal tendency in all faith traditions to give something back to God. It’s our way of acknowledging everything is a gift. The least we can do is offer something back, not because God has an ego and needs it, but because we need it to ground ourselves in humility and self-gift.

Today, let’s listen to the Old Testament prophet Hosea, discussing repentance - a sacrifice that is truly pleasing to God.

Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

What shall I do with you, O E′phraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away. Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light. For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.

Let’s pray – Father of Grace and Mercy. Grant within us a contrite heart, one that acknowledges our failings and turns to you for forgiveness. Stir within us a desire for steadfast love of you and our neighbor. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen anytime at prayfor2.com, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

Many of us will try to eliminate a bad habit or sin during Lent. Maybe it’s being lazy. Maybe it’s eating too much. While that’s all well and good, if we don’t actively work build a good habit in its place, studies show we will likely fall back into the bad habit.

Saint Peter, one of the twelve disciples, and designated by Jesus Christ as first pope of the Church, said this,

“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Today, let’s pray to make this our best Lent ever. Let’s pray that God would help us root out the sin or vice that plagues us, and plant a virtue to grow and flower in its place.

Lord, take away my pride and replace it with humility

Take away my envy and replace it with kindness.

Take away my anger and replace it with forgiveness.

Take away my sloth and replace it with zeal.

Take away my lust and replace it with purity.

Take away my gluttony and replace it with self-control,

Take away my greed and replace it with generosity.

And loving Father, take away my doubt, fear, and hatred and fill it with faith, hope and love. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Listen anytime at prayfor2.com, or on the Redeemer Radio app.

Prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

These central tenants of Lent redirect our focus to our relationship with God, the discipline of sacrifice, and being a gift of self.

All three are addressed by Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew,

“When you give alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And when you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites; they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And when you fast, don’t look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Let’s pray – Father of Grace and Mercy. Please bless our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, that we would be more loving and sacrificial. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2. Find them anytime at Prayfor2.com, and the Redeemer Radio app.

Where does the Catholic Church get its authority?

From Jesus Christ. He gave his apostle Peter, or Rock, that authority to bind and loose while instituting the Church in the gospel of Matthew:

“And so I say to you, you are Rock, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

The Church is later described as the body of Christ, with Christ as the head, meaning one cannot exist separate from the other. Trying to be a follower of Jesus apart from the Church is essentially spiritual decapitation, as he promised to be with His bride for all time.

Listen to Jesus, confirming this promise while sending his Apostles out as the newly formed Church:

“All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Let’s pray – Jesus our Redeemer – you created the Church on the rock of Saint Peter. May we trust the necessity of authority in preserving the unity of the Church as the body of Christ, with you as the head. Amen.

This is Mike Kelly with Pray For 2 - to them anytime at Prayfor2.com, or on the Redeemer Radio app.