Belief in praying just doesn't come over night; but in due course it will manifest itself through your actions, and by the results that you will obtain. Prayers alone will require your devotion to them on a regular basis. With holy water your objective is to try it out. Your belief in its inherent power to heal, bless and to protect will become clear over a period of time. Your faith in holy water will grow to the point that you will discuss it with family and friends; and confidently never fail to use it for the blessing and the safeguarding of your loved ones--even your house, your pets and the vehicles that you drive, if you want to. I always say that life is not to be played around with, and especially when children are involved. We want to take care of them and watch over them as much as possible; but sometimes we can't always be there for them at every second of the day. Our best alternative is to hand them over to God for his safekeeping; while they live their lives from infancy, and right on to old age. Just the other day, I was walking back to my Explorer after getting a coffee at Starbucks near where I live. I thought I saw my trunk door wide open, but it turned out to be the SUV next to mine in the parking lot. I greeted the lady owner, who happened to be loading the trunk of her SUV with groceries from the supermarket. She had a little girl with her; and when I looked at her she appeared not to be feeling well. I found the little girl a bit sad, but maybe because it was still early in the morning. I asked her mom, who appeared friendly and talkative. She went on to explain to me that her youngest daughter--the little girl's sister--had just recently passed away. I asked how old was the girl, and she said nineteen months-old. Just a baby! The tiny tot crawled to the swimming pool, right from the family room where she was left sitting on a sofa, and the gate was open on the guard-fence. In that short span of time, while her mom was retrieving the groceries from her SUV, the child was gone forever. She drowned, and no one could bring her back to life. That precious child became an organ donor to three families. Her very short life was not lived in vain. 1) Why do we need to pray? My story of the infant is a very sad but true incident. We pray so that we allow for God to take over our lives, and especially that of our loved ones. We simply can't control all events, elements, and those tragic moments that can easily occur in a flash. God is the only one that can provide divine intervention to save a life. We also pray so that parents who lose their children can find solace in knowing that their loved ones are now in the arms of God. People sometimes take the attitude that: "What the heck, we're going to die anyway someday!" Yes, that's true, but I don't see too many people rushing to get to heaven! We know it is paradise, according to the Scriptures, but living on Earth is also paradise, if we choose to make it so. A life is such a short-term event, that even if we can live to be one hundred years-old, it's still not long enough for some people, especially if they are having a wonderful time. It's the body that gives up functioning, either from disease or old age, not the spirit. No one wants to go prematurely, so we pray for health, a happy life, and a long life. You may be someone who truly doesn't believe in praying; and you probably have no notion of what holy water can do for you. Then let me help you with more facts and events on the magnificent powers of prayer and holy water. 2) Why it is important to sprinkle holy water on people and personal vehicles My youngest son was on I95, a major highway that extends the entire East Coast of the U.S. It is one of the busiest highways, and most dangerous also, especially when it rains. A few months back while he was driving his Jeep Cherokee back from work one evening, a tire blew up, and his truck careened across the highway totally out-of-control. It was a rainy night. One car driving at 70 mph avoided hitting him, and that car went off the highway into a ravine, and it flipped over a few times before landing upside down. Another vehicle was able to slow down and still hit the Jeep, but with less force and impact. My son survived the accident, and so did the other parties. His Jeep was blessed with holy water a few years back; and I bless him via his photo on my laptop every day by signing the cross over his face with holy water. 3) The effective use of holy water for injuries--even for the eyes I mountain bike regularly, and last month I got into a serious spin right on the trail. I went flying in mid-air onto bushes, rocks, small tree branches and lake water. Anything lives in those waters; including moccasin snakes, alligators, iguanas, and other critters. No one was around to help me out. I extricated myself from the spot that I was tangled in, and got right back on the trail. It took me a good thirty minutes to do so. When I returned to my Explorer, my left eye was red as a cherry. I must have poked it with a branch. For the next seven days I tried washing it with running water, using eye drops and putting antibiotic cream. Every thing that I tried putting on irritated my eye, and nothing seemed to work. I was also beginning to get severe headaches; probably from straining my eyes. By the eight day, I resorted to my 'holy water treatment' and the eye cured itself in exactly three days of its use. Now, when my eyes are tired, I place holy water on the eyelids, and not inside the eye. Remember, dab holy water on the upper and lower eyelids of both eyes, whenever you need to. 4) Praying and waiting for answers. How long does it take? We all pray and wait for answers, and sometimes we get frustrated for lack of success. In fact, many despair and forget to follow-up with their prayers. I have prayed for many requests in my life, and few have ever been answered. Why is that? Maybe the requests weren't that urgent or important, but I made them anyway. Other times, I have prayed for something, only to get my answer weeks, and sometimes months later. I have compared prayers answered to a faucet which is slowly opened in heaven; and one drop after another painful drop falls onto a glass. Days and weeks may go by and we see no results at all. And then one day, the glass is full of water, meaning: the prayer has been answered. Where is the petitioner when prayers are answered? He is no longer around, for he has given up on prayer; saying out-loud, prayer just doesn't work for me! So he goes thirsty; in the meanwhile, the glass is brimming with water and he's holding it right in his hand. God is the only one that controls the flow of the water, and only He holds the 'handle to the faucet.' It is His will that measures the speed that the water will pour from the faucet onto the waiting glass of the petitioner. Our job is to be patient and wait faithfully. Here is where faith in God goes a long, long way. I know that this explanation might seem very simplistic to many--or even dumb for that matter; but to me it explains many questions in my mind. Believing that prayers are answered is one of our greatest struggles in life. I know, for I went through a lot of praying to come to the conclusion that they are in fact answered, but not according to our timing, but instead to God's own schedule. We can't rush Him, and neither can we push Him. That's why He is God! 5) The reason and the force behind prayer and holy water Does God determine the day and the hour that we will die? You may want to ask this question of clergy, and see what the correct answer is. I prefer to believe that God leaves that issue alone; and instead, He allows the natural course of events and unknown circumstances here on Earth to determine the time of our death. I also believe that God knows everything about us at all moments of the day and night. However, I feel that although He knows when we are going to die, He doesn't point His finger at anyone individually on a day to day basis, and says, "All right, today is your day, tomorrow is going to be yours, and this is the way that it will be done." Many people would agree with that statement, including clergy that I know in my church, but I certainly don't. I think that God leaves us alone to live our lives; therefore, leaving us subject to the risks and the dangers of the natural elements, e.g., thunderstorms, rain, snow, and many other extraordinary possibilities that we face every day. It is the inherent price that we pay for being members of the human race. No ifs, ands or buts about it! Give you an example: not too long ago a neighbor of mine mentioned to me the recent accidental death of a doctor friend of hers crossing Brickell Ave. in Miami, Florida. He was going to lunch with his other doctor friends; and he happened to step first onto the pedestrian crosswalk. He was struck by a pick-up truck that missed the red light; and the driver hit him with full force and at high speed. The doctor might have looked to his left before crossing, but he failed to anticipate the incoming truck not stopping at all. The doctor was killed instantly. I mentioned the incident with the nineteen month-old infant for a reason. Absolutely no one was around and available to save her life at the moment that she fell in the pool. Sadly, her parents will have to live through that tragedy for the rest of their lives. But I feel the pain more deeply for the mother, who will forever think that she could have done something to save her child's life; either by having been more careful or watchful. Here's my point: If, like some people believe, God determines the day and the hour that we will die--by whatever method He chooses our death--is it fair that an innocent baby dies by accident, and then be literally taken away from her parents, knowing full well the horrible loss and unbearable pain that her death would bring to the family? Would God do this on purpose? Why, in order to avoid that child further pain later on in her life--had the drowning never occurred? What about the doctor who was killed by the truck? He was forty years-old, and at the prime of his life and career, married with family. I don't think that God can be so cruel to have taken his life; and not be concerned and feel compassion for his family of the terrible grief and sorrow that this act would rein upon them! Did God design the fatal accident by making the doctor alone cross the street ahead of his colleagues? We are taught to believe that God is a God of love; and by being cruel, unfair and unjust to His children, He is not the God that I have lived all these years to believe in. On the other hand, if God leaves all of His children to chance, and to face life with all its elements--which is what I prefer to believe in; then we need to pray to Him to give us protection, because in reality we have no one else with the power to do it for us. He is the One that can intervene to save a life, and only if He wishes to do so. Therein lies the reason and the force behind prayer and holy water. We didn't create these two elements--they were created by God for us to be used at our liberty. The reason for using prayer is to open and maintain a line of communication with our creator, and that's God. That line is there for us to ask Him to spare a life, our own if needed, protect the children from accidents, cure the sick, and bring relief when we are feeling down. The force behind it is in our degree of conviction, faith and commitment to stick with our petitions; and not walk away while the prayer or prayers are in the process of being considered. Are prayers answered after all? Yes, definitely, all prayers are answered with a Yes, No, or Later! I know this for a fact because I have made hundreds of petitions over the years praying to God, and few of my prayers have ever been answered. However, allow me to clarify myself; the prayers that were indeed answered were the most important ones of all. The rest didn't really matter, because they were either deemed irrelevant, or I just forgot what I asked for. Perhaps heaven did the same also, probably for my own benefit. It is of major importance that we don't underestimate the power of prayer to deliver, and for holy water to produce results. I have discussed this subject many times in my previous articles, and it is critical that we ask God to take care of us; but most importantly, our loved ones. God hears, and God delivers. Holy water will not be wasted on you and your loved ones if you decide to use it. Believe in the force and the power behind prayers; and have faith that holy water does what it is intended to do, and that is: to bless, to heal and to protect you and your loved ones, while you and they go about your daily lives.
Prayer and Holy Water - The Reason and the Force Behind Them |
