Page:Complete ascetical works of St Alphonsus v6.djvu/357

Rh O Lord, make haste to help me! O Lord, help me, and help me soon; for if Thou delayest Thy assistance, I shall fall and perish!" And this above all must be practised in the moment of temptation; he who acts otherwise is lost.

And let us have a great faith in prayer. God has promised to hear him that prays: Ask, and you shall receive. How can we doubt, says St. Augustine, since God has bound himself by express promise, and cannot fail to grant us the favors we ask of him? "By promising he has made himself our debtor." In recommending our selves to God, we must have a sure confidence that God hears us, and then we shall obtain whatever we want. Behold what Jesus Christ says: All things, whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you.

"But," some one may say, "I am a sinner, and do not deserve to be heard." But Jesus Christ says: Every one that asketh, receiveth. Every one, be he just, or be he a sinner. St. Thomas teaches us that the efficacy of prayer to obtain graces does not depend on our merits, but on the mercy of God, who has promised to hear every one who prays to him. And our Redeemer, in order to re move from us all fear when we pray, said: Amen, amen, I say to you, if you shall ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it you. As though he would say: Sinners,