The fruits of an answered prayer
September 18, 2023 - Monday, 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Psalm 28:2, 7, 8-9
Psalm 28 begins with a cry for help. The psalmist was in dire straits and only God could save him. Then, the Lord heard his prayer and it changed everything. He blessed the Lord, his heart rejoiced and he sang a song to declare God’s mighty deeds.
The psalmist’s experience of moving from “hear the sound of my pleading, when I cry to you [Lord]” (Ps 28:2) to “blessed is the Lord for He has heard the sound of my pleading” (Ps 28:6) has been replicated in the lives of many people. Let me give one example of someone who you probably never heard of because our media seldom spread such transforming stories of people being transformed by the power of God’s saving grace. His name is Paul Cowley.
Paul Cowley grew up in a dysfunctional family. His father was always absent and he did not see his mother since he was a kid. He got himself into gangs early in life and ended up in prison. He married twice and divorced twice. And He nearly ended up an alcoholic. Today, he is a vicar in the Church of England, a married man and a loving father to his two children. He works with the homeless, mentally challenged, prisoners and those coming out of prison. He was presented by King Charles as a Member of the Order of the British Empire. So what happened?
While attending the Alpha Course, Paul prayed the following prayer:
“If You are up there, and all this stuff is true, then You can make me a better man, You can make a better character, You know, You can make me hopefully a faithful husband, a good father, someone who people would like, then You know what? Let’s go for it”.
Psalm 28 is about the realisation that without God we cannot make it. It is about prayer for help when everything seems to be disintegrating in life. And it is about experiencing God’s help. The psalmist declares: “I was helped and my heart rejoiced”. When you watch the Alpha English Video on the topic, “How does God guide us?”, you will see Paul Cowley’s smiling face as he shares his testimony of God who heard the sound of his pleading.
Psalm 28 ends with a plea for the entire people of God: “Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever” (Ps 28:9). Everyone who experienced God’s grace wants others to experience it as well. We want to see other people being helped and rejoiced. And so we need to share our stories of transformation to draw others to Jesus. By telling what happened to us we invite others to turn to Jesus for help and experience his life-changing grace.