Title: The Best Prayer/Psalm 77:1-2
Contents: What do you think are the characteristics of a Christian? Some say abstaining from alcohol, not smoking, and doing many good deeds are the hallmarks of a Christian. Of course, that's correct. But that's a very pessimistic view. This is because there are people who are not Christians who can avoid smoking, avoid alcohol, and do many good things.
If so, where are the characteristics of a Christian in a more positive way? It's about "praying". To know God as my Father, to kneel before Him, to pray, to supplicate, to plead, and to have time to fall down to receive forgiveness. No matter how clean a person is, no matter how hard he tries, he cannot be a Christian if he does not live a life of prostrate himself before God, even if he lives without blemish and does many good deeds.
That is why prayer is said to be a conversation with God. The more you have this conversation with God, the better, and the more you do it, the better. Among such prayers, there are more precious prayers.
First, the prayers of parents.
This prayer is a prayer that parents live for their children. This is a parent's prayer. There is no prayer in this world that is sincere, sincere, and sincere as a parent prays for their child. There are tears, truth, and devotion in that prayer. So, when people say that they have succeeded, you can see that there must be a mother's prayer behind that success.
A typical example would be the prayer of Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. Augustine was a prodigal son who, in his youth, rotted his mother very much. His mother, Monica, prayed for her son in tears for many years.
He prayed like that, even after ten years have passed, there is no sign of his son returning. So it is said that when this mother was sad and weeping in the temple, Bishop Amburosius, the bishop of the church at the time, gave her encouragement. "I do not know other prayers, but the prayer of a mother who prays with tears will surely come true, keep praying."
It is said that when he prayed for 13 years with tears in his eyes, this prodigal son came back. He came back, but he didn't just come back, he came back as a saint. This is purely because of the prayers of a mother's tears.
Augustine also knew this and tried to do her best to her mother, but her mother died a month after her son returned. How amazing is that? That's why people usually say Augustine's mother Monica when she prays for her. And this is why Monica is now praised as the Virgin in the West.
Many parents in the world are struggling to pass on their fortunes to their children, but when it comes to inheritance, what better legacy in the world could there be? How can the breath of faith of a mother whispered from the arms of her faith, which seems to open her heart forever, contains living life, and is indelible forever, how can they be forgotten for a moment? So the best legacy in the world is for parents to pray for their children.
There is also a friend's prayer.
After a parent's prayer for their child, another sincere prayer is a friend's prayer. The Bible says that the most precious thing after parental love is the friendship of a friend. Jonathan's love for David is a prime example of this, and for Daniel, the three friends are a model of the love of friends that showed more passionate love than any other brother.
The representative painter of the Renaissance period, Raphael, is a representative case of success because of the prayer of a friend. Raphael and his friend were born in Urbino, a rural town in Italy, and grew up interested in art. Then, realizing that they could not achieve their dreams there, they came to the city to study art, and they both struggled and started studying, but because there was no money, their friend earned money and Raphael studied. Then the friend decided to study.
When Raphael finished his studies and went to the place where his friend was working, he was in a small room holding hands and praying for his friend Raphael. Raphael looked into the praying hands through the crack in the door and was amazed. His hands were so painfully bruised that they were embarrassing to look at because of how much work he had done, his knuckles became thick, bursting, and rough.
Raphael saw this and took out a piece of paper from the spot and drew a picture of his friend praying with his hands together. The picture I drew at that time is the "praying hand" with only the two hands you see today. Behind Raphael's success was his friend's mournful prayer. That is why a friend's prayer is a precious prayer.
When you think about it this way, humans are truly great beings. When men are united by faith, and moreover by friendship and love, what a great flower of spirit blooms. The power to make these flowers bloom is the prayer of friendship.
And there is the Master's prayer.
Looking at it this way, meeting a good teacher is a great blessing. This is because the teacher has a profound influence on the intellect of the growing disciples without realizing it.
But there is a better prayer than all these prayers. The prayers of your parents are important, the prayers of your friends are important, and the prayers of your teachers are more important than anything else, but there is a better prayer than any other prayer.
That is my prayer.
This prayer is a prayer in prayer. Intercessory prayers that others do for me are important, and support prayers are good prayers, but the prayer that is better than any other prayer is the prayer I personally, with my mouth, and with my voice. This prayer is the most weighty prayer.
In the text, "(Psalm 77:1) I will cry out to God with my voice, and if I cry out to God with my voice, he will listen to me." The life of faith is, to the end, the subject of "myself". It is important that someone prays for you, but even better is praying "I, with my mouth."
A seminary student graduated from school and went to study in the United States. When I was interviewing at the school, the president asked: "Has the student been born again?" Then this student said, "My father is the dean of the seminary." My father is the dean of the seminary, so I don't need to be born again. This is a very big misunderstanding. It is two different things for my father to be the dean of a seminary and for me to be saved.
Salvation is not given by anyone's merit. Just because the wife has good faith does not mean that the husband is saved because of it. It has nothing to do with the father being the dean of the seminary or the son being born again. They will help me to keep my faith life, but they cannot be the essence.
That is why the best prayer among prayers is ?쏱rayer that I, with my voice, with my lips, directly.??This prayer is powerful and has the power to make me who I am. Therefore, each person must have his or her own prayer.
A housewife should have a housewife's prayer. Prayer for the family is the prayer that housewives should pray. Prayers for children living in today's desolate world are prayers that housewives should pray. Also, praying for the Lord to become the shepherd of our family and the owner of our home so that our family can follow the right path is also a prayer that housewives should pray. What prayer could be more important to a housewife than this?
Also, the elderly should have the prayers of the elderly. It's hard to tell, but the old man should pray for only one "peaceful end." This is the most important prayer subject among the prayers that the elderly should pray. Above all, the old man should have a beautiful and gracious appearance in the last days. We must face that time in such a way that our descendants will be able to see their parents' final apocalypse and remember them forever and impress them.
The last appearance is so beautiful, and there are people who can't be impressed. It's not very pleasant to think of death, but nevertheless, the more you think about it, the more you think about it, the more profound the feeling of life. So, seeing the end of the world, some people started believing that this is the essence of faith.
However, not everyone is like that. Some people end up looking so ugly that they can't even look at it. There are some people who go away in an instant, obscuring the appearance of their lives, which had been shown to people clean and noble so far, and the end of that life is tragic. So what prayer could be more serious than this? So this is the prayer the old man should pray.
Also, young people need to pray. youth! How heartbreaking is this word? That's why Goethe said, "Young people are a generation that can be acquired just by being young." The future is so blue, grand, and hopeful. In this time of life, it is not enough just to have someone praying for me. So there must be the prayer of the young man who asks with my mouth, with my own voice, with my own voice.
Young people must first pray to have a strong religious foundation and youthful dreams that will not be shaken even if the world is shaken.
A theologian named Wayne Oats said in his book, "Young people, pray for two things." It said "one root and one wing". This means that young people must have a strong sense of belonging to stand in a firm position and live in a firm position, and it is most important for young people to have the wings to realize their ideals and dreams.
Paul Tillich said, "A young man can survive the drought of life only when he takes root in the Lord and establishes himself there." Because "Jesus Christ is the foundation of all beings, and in him there is life that overcomes death and hope that overcomes despair."
Young people must have youthful eyes. They must be able to see the world of faith with their upward-opened eyes, and at the same time, they must be able to see the wider world with their outward-looking eyes, and they must have open eyes to see the self and the inner world. It is the prayer that young people should pray when they are young, to realize their mission through insight and to secure "a sure foundation to live for it and die because of it."
Everyone, I hope you will gain strength through many prayers throughout the year. If you open your mouth wide, you will fill it. I hope you will experience greater grace through the best prayers and live your life.