Sometimes we feel like God already knows what we need before we ask, so why bother? As a parent myself, I too often know things before my kids tell me. Someone calls me, or I’ve just figured it out on my own. I still want them to tell me. I want to hear it from them. A relationship is all about sharing our lives. Our relationship with Jesus Christ in the Sacraments is a personal one. In each Sacrament is an encounter with Christ in which we should be praying.
Just like the disciples though sometimes we say, “I don’t know how to pray.” Jesus today teaches His disciples in the Gospel the Our Father. In it, we see words that express an intimate relationship. The very opening line, Our Father, reminds us that we are children to Him. I heard a nun one time on a video describe intimacy as “into me, see.” That statement is pretty powerful stuff. A Jesuit Priest on a silent retreat once quoted Walter Burghardt, a theologian, who defined contemplative prayer as a “long loving look at the real.” That look is precisely what a Sacrament is. It is taking a moment to gaze into the eyes of God who never stops watching his child lovingly.
So prayer then should be speaking to God about what bothers us, just as we would to any friend, any parent — telling Him about our lives, our joys, our sorrows. We should be like Abraham in the first reading and the neighbor in the parable from the Gospel. We should persist in prayer, never stopping to fear that God will be upset or annoyed by our request. Continue knocking and asking, because God wants to shower you with His Grace. There is a line from a Novena that I have been praying that expresses how we should view the answers to our prayers.
If what I ask is not for the glory of God, or for the good of my soul, obtain for me what is most conducive to both.
God will not give you a snake, even if you ask for it. So be ready to have your prayers answered. Just remember, sometimes the answer is no. Keep asking, keep knocking, because prayer will not only open the gates of Heaven to flood you with grace, but it will change you so that your prayer continually gets closer and closer to God’s will. Remember that in the Eucharist you are receiving the most intimate of embraces, the most tender of looks from your Father, take some time this Sunday and look back lovingly at Him.
A reflection on the readings for Sunday of the 17th Week in Ordinary Time, July 28th, 2019.