Philemon is a wonderful letter and Paul’s passion shines through. I learned a lot from him and the other characters in this letter. The latter looks at prayer.

Paul believes that his and Philemon’s prayers will come true: 22And by the way, prepare a room for me. Thanks to your prayers, I look forward to being your guest again.

Pablo is still in jail, but he is already telling Filemón to make the bed, because he is on his way.

This is how we should pray. Pray while you firmly believe. As Herbert also prayed:

This morning, I can so gratefully testify that God answers prayers, even though we may be asking outrageous things.

My daughter was robbed at a mall by a thief who stole her purse containing her car keys, cell phone, bank and credit cards, driver’s license and more. She was surprised, but not hurt in any way.

I could feel the anger welling up inside me at the injustice of what had happened to my dear only daughter. First, I wanted to curse the evil thief, but the Holy Spirit stopped me, saying that it was not right.

So, I began to pray and thanked God that Patricia was not hurt, but I also asked the Father for the following:

“Lord, You are always in control of everything. Thank You that Patricia was not hurt, but Father, I pray that You will return her possessions to her in a SUPERNATURAL way.”

I thanked God and finished my prayer. I must confess that I never thought that God would put such supernatural things in their place.

Approximately two hours later, a man called my wife and said that he had found Patricia’s bag among the clothes he was mending in another shopping center about 20 km from where the robbery had taken place.

Patricia found all her cards in her bag, just in different places. His license was still there too, also in another place. She then opened a pocket in the bag that closes with a zipper and found her car keys and cell phone SIM card there.

Once again, God showed how He can answer when we ask Him. Patricia was not only uninjured in the incident, but she did not have to go through the inconvenience of replacing lost cards, licenses and contacts, and having to change the locks on her car.

I smiled as I read the last paragraph:

Maybe the thief didn’t even realize why he did those things and replaced everything, but when God speaks, everyone listens: every knee will bow and every tongue will confess…

We must pray believing that God listens. We must believe that God will hear our prayers and make them come true.

Holy Scripture

Philemon 1:22-23

Reflection

Do you believe in prayer?

Do you believe when you pray?

Do you expect something?

Prayer

Oh God, I believe in prayer, otherwise I wouldn’t be praying right now. We will never make it without prayer. As I pray, please help me to believe that You hear and will do something. In Jesus be Naam, amen.