Moving Mountains
The prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
—James 5:16
When the disciples failed to heal a young boy, Jesus chastised them for their weakness: “Oh faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?” After healing the boy himself he told them, “I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” And then he added, “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
How are we to pray if we wish to move mountains or drive out demons? We begin by asking for God’s mercy on our souls. Listen to what St. Augustine had to say about prayer:
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Thomas S. Buchanan is the George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Delaware. He has studied at UCSD, Northwestern University, and MIT, and has held visiting professorships at the University of Western Australia and the University of Aix-Marseille. He has served as department chairman, deputy dean, and institute director, president of the American Society of Biomechanics, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Applied Biomechanics. He is on the Board of Trustees of Saint Katherine College, the editorial board of Touchstone, and the board of The Fellowship of St. James.
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