Defending the Power
of Prayer in the
Face of Evil
“Work as though all depends on you;
pray as though all depends on God.”
These words were spoken by St. Ignatius of Loyola, and they are quite a
spiritual battle plan. But what do we do
if we have tried to follow it and our efforts seem to produce no fruit? It can be easy to give in to despair.
Case in point: the Presidential
election. I worked. I attended rallies, wrote articles and
letters, donated thousands of dollars, tried to get out the vote and combat
fraud. I prayed, I fasted. I was one of thousands, probably millions, of
Christians who did the same. And yet,
even though there was a clear distinction between good and evil, evil won.
What does it mean? It’s easy to throw up our hands, give up on
our country, and even worse, to give up on prayer. While we should love our country, I will not
try to talk anyone out of giving up on it.
I’m not ready to stop fighting, but I do suspect that the “American
experiment” may have ended in failure.
What about prayer, though? I continue to preach fighting the battle as
prayer warriors, but I catch myself often, when it is being encouraged, even by
myself, at some level, thinking, “What’s the point?” The most evil Presidency in the history of
our country has been extended despite our fervent prayers. Why bother?
I know God answers prayer, but perhaps when it comes to politics or
culture, we are spitting in the wind.
This is an unconscious feeling I catch
myself harboring on occasion, and I know that it is false. How can I know that? The facts are what they are. We prayed for good and evil won. Prayer did not overcome the free will of a
pagan nation. Not on November 6, at
least, but that does not mean it was without value or power.
We (at least I) can fall into the trap
of thinking that our prayers should have magical powers. If I pray for what is good, good should
happen. And my vision, by the way, can
always recognize the greatest good. I
don’t attribute the power to myself, of course, but I’ve seen the power of
prayer before, so how is it that my prayers don’t always produce my desired
results?
Going back to the election and world
events, which is where this arrogance often comes into play for me, I think the
answers, as usual, can be found in Scripture and the Catechism. What do we know? We know that there will be the rise of an
antichrist at some point and that he will wield great power. There will be a tribulation and believers
will be persecuted. These believers, we
can assume, would be praying for good, and for the failure of the
antichrist. And yet, these things will
happen. That is for sure.
However, we all know that that is not
the end of the story. Christ will return
and vindicate His People, and He will have the final victory. The antichrist and his followers will
ultimately lose. And I suspect that the
prayers of the faithful will be channels of Grace throughout this entire final
act of history. Evil will hold sway for
a while, but will eventually lose. And
even throughout the days of evil’s reign, goodness and Christ’s ultimate
victory will work through the power of prayer.
I do not know if we are in the last
days. I do know, however, that though
our prayers will not magically keep evil from having its hour, they will be
channels of Grace throughout that hour and perhaps bring about more speedily
the Lord’s day. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen
says, commenting on the language in St. John’s Gospel, “Evil has its hour, but
God has His day.”
Abortion may be enshrined for another
generation, with countless more children killed. Gay “marriage” may become the law of the
land, causing further destruction of the family. Regardless, we will work as though all
depends on us.
In the end, however, all the efforts
of the enemy are futile. We will have
the final victory. That is
guaranteed. And through it all, we will
pray as though all depends on God. And
we will know, as we encounter small victories and defeats along the way, that
our prayers are powerful tools that God does not waste.
