Save us from the Fires of Hell

"Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Amen." 

Our family prays this Fatima prayer daily, and recently while saying this prayer I wondered how Jesus might be answering it in my life. How is He "saving us from the fires of hell"?

Of course, He ultimately made it possible for us to go to Heaven with Him by His life, death, and resurrection. He faithfully forgives us of our sins whenever we seek His forgiveness. Still though, we must accept His awesome plan of salvation in our lives and work out our salvation with all fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), for faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26) and we must continually avoid sin and its damning effects.

That being said, sin comes in all shapes and sizes. How easy it can be for us to fall! We ask for Gods help, and we ask for His saving grace, but sometimes His saving grace comes in a different form than we imagined. The path to holiness is a difficult one and honestly, as I'm slowly learning, it is not a comfortable one. I'm becoming more and more convinced that comfort is for fools and is a passing pleasure. We should expect to be humbled, to lay down our pride, selfishness, wants and desires, hopes and dreams, riches and possessions--none of which are comfortable for us. It is easy to pray nonchalantly "save us from the fires of Hell" and then when hardships arise we wonder why the Lord is allowing them, when in reality these sufferings and trials are saving us from the fires of Hell! That is why it is written in the epistle of James:

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

~James 1:2-4~

It is a true joy to be saved! Thank God for His saving graces, mysterious as they sometimes are. Let us humble ourselves, so that when we encounter trials, we will be joyful and believing in the power at work by the Holy Spirit through them to help us grow in holiness and set aside our wicked ways, which are not pleasing to the Lord but truly offensive. With confidence we can approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Therefore, let us pray wholeheartedly and confidently, 

"Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy. Amen."