Thursday, November 30, 2006

Prayer to Obtain Favors

"Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen."--It is piously believed that whoever recites the above prayer fifteen times a day from the feast of St. Andrew (November 30th) until Christmas will obtain what is asked.

If you're reading this for the first time and it's already past November 30th (likely since I'm posting this very late), you can still join in the prayer on whatever day this is for you. It's not strictly necessary to make up the days you missed, but it's up to you if you want to. I've given this prayer to many people even after the "start date," and God has still been very generous with them!

I've been doing this every year for several years now. Until the first year I did this, I had never had the experience of persevering in prayer--not even for the nine short days of a novena!

The first year, I didn't ask for something too hard. I didn't want to be disappointed if God "didn't come through." The second year, I got a bit bolder and asked for something a little tougher, figuring that if nothing else I would learn that God is up to any challenge. Both of those years, I sort of got what I prayed for, but in unexpected ways.

The third year, I noticed that the prayer asks God to "grant my desires," PLURAL, not singular. So I gave Him several requests that year, and last year I gave Him the whole rundown of my wants and needs. Did I get everything I asked for? Nope. (Duh!) But wow! did He answer a lot of that stuff with Yes! So many blessings in my life since last Christmas!

So believe me, He's getting a big long list again this year!

5 comments:

owenswain said...

Thank you for the encouragement of this post and your blog. Merry Christmas.

Ronnie said...

And a Joyous Christmas to you and yours, onionboy!

Anonymous said...

I'm a believer. My seemingly impossible intention was granted after saying this prayer the prescribed 15 times daily, plus one or two extra here and there, beginning just one or two days after the suggested start day. On Christmas day, my intentions began to be realized. Prayer works and God is good. I suggest that everyone pray this as prescribed, with faith that your prayer will be granted. God bless!

Anonymous said...

I am praying the Prayer to Obtain Favors more than fifteen times a day.. Thank you for the encouragement to pray the Prayer to Obtain Favors.

E-mail:christian.castro96@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Ronnie !

Indeed, it is cool to be Catholic.

I want you to pray for me. Please pray for me. Ask the intercession of Saint Jude Thaddeus, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Saint Anthony of Padua and Saint Pancratius and all the Holy Angels. I want to pass the 2009 Philippine bar exam.

Email:christian.castro96@yahoo.com