The Life and Mission of Jesus Christ: Episode 21

Rev. Sun Myung Moon: The Life and Mission of Jesus Christ
Chapter 3: The Sermon on the Mount, Prayer, Page 61-63

Prayer

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.…’ ” (Matthew 6:5-13)

If you pray unconsciously in everyday life, then undoubtedly you are becoming sons and daughters of prayer. If you give your last ounce of energy but it is not enough, then ask God for assistance and your prayer will be answered. If that were not the case, how could we ever subjugate Satan? Satan has given unend- ing anguish and heartbreak to God for 6,000 years, and if there were no way we could finally subjugate him then there would be no end to it.

Prayer is like a covenant between you and God, a promise. Once you make a contract, you follow through and then it will undoubtedly be fulfilled.

You should not be disappointed when prayer is not answered immediately. Some answers come late. At other times you should not be overjoyed when prayer is answered quickly. That is not necessarily the best thing.

Because you are surrounded by the world, there are many stages to go through horizontally and vertically. The answer to prayer does not come from you but down from heaven and it takes time to reach you. There have been many foolish people who received answers to their prayers up to a point but who didn’t go the final inch, and when they weren’t satisfied they betrayed God. When you pray for the world you may not see things changing immediately around you, but far away the communist world starts to crumble. The impact of prayer can be felt in a far-away place.

When Jesus prayed in Gethsemane he was deadly serious, shedding tears, sweat, and blood. All day long you should be in a prayer mood, not just one hour, but 24 hours. What prayer position do you prefer? The best is to kneel and lower your head. You have to restrict your body’s freedom, as though it were bound. You will feel pain, but overcome it because you should be serious.

Then God will know your attitude. That is a necessity for prayer. Without prayer Jesus and the saints could not have done the great things that had an impact on the world. When you resort to the power of prayer, you can have hope because you never know when the fulfillment will come.

The Importance of Prayer
April 15, 1979

When we pray, for whom do we pray? What would be more appealing to God, to pray for the sake of oneself or for the sake of God? If we pray for the sake of God, “I” come on the scene only secondarily. First it is God, then me as God wishes me to be. My preference is always to be on the side that God is on. If God is on the east side, that’s the side I want to be on. But if I pray and find out that God wants me on the west side, I should say, “Yes, I want to go to the west side.” If we think, “No, I want to be on the east side no matter what you think,” then our prayer cannot succeed. 

God has a purpose for us and God is the main theme of prayer. You don’t have to pray too much about yourself. Those who pray for themselves will decline, and those who pray for God and the rest of the world will rise.

Most Unification Church members know that the restoration of the world is the ultimate objective of prayer. All day long you think about the world and maybe for a few minutes you verbalize it and pray, “Heavenly Father, please help me work today for the sake of the whole world and for you!” That prayer is more powerful than a prayer for small things. Small prayers are like leaves and twigs on a tree, whereas the other kind of prayer is like the trunk.

Lifestyle of Prayer
January 18, 1987

 

When you pray, your heart should be as earnest as a baby who cries for his mother’s milk. You should pray with the pure heart of a child asking his own father.

Before you pray for God’s will, separate the good and evil in your mind and body. Pray to God, being aware of your own sin. First attain peace in your mind and then pray. First inspire your mind so that through it you may open the way to be able to pray. On this foundation the divinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit can be connected with your mind.

We have so far prayed that God may give us blessing, but now is the time to pray: “I will give my blessings to you, God, so please take them.” As you walk, pray that you may be able to live according to God’s words, and that they may be transformed into flesh and blood and move within you. Pray, “Father, I would like to give to all people, so please enable me to do so.” The time of prayer is not the time when we become proud, but the time when we offer a sacrifice.

Prayer is to be accompanied by sacrifice and sincerity. God loves to hear the confident prayer of a brave man praying in the most lonely and adventurous situation.

A husband and wife should pray in tears early in the morning, holding the hands of their children. When the children experience this, it becomes their tradition.

Excerpted from The Way of God’s Will