Nine Days That Will Change You

A novena is nine days of prayer for a particular intention.

The very first novena occurred between Jesus' ascension into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples "returned to Jerusalem…went to the upper room…[and] devoted themselves to prayer."  (Acts 1:12-14) Nine days later was Pentecost.

Those nine days of prayer not only prepared them for the coming of the Holy Spirit, it prepared the disciples to carry out God's will for them.

When we enter into prayer, our goal should be to do the will of God not to have God bow to our will.  Yes, we come with our own petitions and how we would like our prayers to be answered, but we have to understand that God knows what we need far better than we do and He will only do for us that which will draw us closer to Him (if we let it) and that which is He knows is best for us.

I will tell you from experience, novenas work!  I have prayed novenas since I was a child.  Do I always get what I ask for?  If I unite my will to God's than yes.

Does it always look the way I think it should or hoped it would?  No.

Does it always turn out the way it should? Yes, because, again--God's will.

Are my prayers always answered immediately? No.  The key is to trust and not give up the prayers.

There are LOTS of novena prayers out there.

One must understand that to pray a novena you are asking the Saint to whom you are directing the prayer to intercede for you, not to answer your prayer.  They pray with and for you;  God does the answering.

A  novena to  St. Therese of Lisieux will almost always yield roses for you.  You can even specify a color and she will come through. (When my sister was ready to conceive her first child I prayed specifically for blue roses.  Boy did I see blue roses-in winter!  They were grave blankets but they were blue roses!  She had a baby boy the next summer!!!)

A novena to St. Jude is said for intentions that seem impossible.

Novenas to St. Gerard are said for conception, a healthy pregnancy and a safe delivery.  Nine out of 11 of these novenas were answered with a "yes" for us.

I don't know if there is a novena to St. Anthony of Padua because lost things are found pretty quickly when you ask him to intercede for you.

Many single people have turned to St. Anne and St. Joseph when they are ready to find their spouse.

Google can help you find any number of novenas.  I typed in-novena for- and the first four options were cancer, anxiety, marriage and healing.  Look up your specific request and find a new Saint friend.

If you already pray novenas and would like to pray more of them, here's the site for you: www.praymorenovenas.com  If you sign up you will get novenas sent to your email several times a year.  You will have the prayer power of over 200,000 other people praying with you for your intentions and they will have you praying for them.

The couple who started the site found each other after each had done a novena to find a spouse.

Give a novena a try.  We all have something on our heart that requires intense prayer.  Invite the Saints to intercede for you.