Today we hear Saint Matthew’s account of how a Roman Centurion’s came to Jesus Christ, asking Him to heal his servant. When Jesus offered to go with him to heal the man, he responded by saying that he was not worthy to have Christ come to his house. Instead he asked Him to “Just give the word and my servant will be cured.”
This man was an outsider; he was not part of the people of Israel. And yet Jesus praised his faith and said that nowhere in Israel had He encountered such faith.
The centurion did not give any intellectual statements about who Jesus was. Yet he clearly acknowledged the authority of Christ and he submitted himself to His authority. He also humbly recognized his own true place in front of Jesus Christ, considering himself unworthy to have Christ come to his house.
Here we see his great faith in the power of Christ’s word. He not only respects the word of the Lord, but he actively seeks it, for he recognizes its great power. He recognizes that this word of the Lord is alive and active and cuts like a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12), and that it is something that will permeate his whole life.
The Scriptures and the teachings of the Fathers are absolutely clear that humility is a prerequisite for true prayer. Prayer is not simply asking favours of God, but is rather acknowledging who He is, who we are before Him, and His authority over our lives. This is true prayer, but it requires a humility that we need to learn and so we pray that we may be given faith like that of the Roman centurion.