+So often along our spiritual journeys, it is only when we realize that we are in a situation very much like that of king Hezekiah and the people of Israel that we really grow in a life of prayer, come to know what it is to truly rely on God. When we begin to see that we are far outnumbered by enemies within and without, in our own hearts and in the society around us, that we come to fully rely on God to save us.
It is then that the Lord sends his angel to strike down those forces that would overwhelm us. It is when we fully trust in God’s power and not our own that our prayer becomes authentic and is sure to be heard.
It seems to me that this is when we enter the narrow gate Jesus speaks of in our gospel, that leads to life. No longer relying on our own strength, we come to know the power of God. Learning humility, we come to know what it is to live by the grace of God. It is then that we are filled with God’s love, ready to do for others what we would have them do for us.
2 Kings 19:9b-11, 14-21,31-35a, 36 Mt 7:6,12-14