When you pray, how do you want God to respond? That is, in an instant answer? A text message? The clouds to open up, with Hollywood music, and then heavenly lights to shine over you?
A friend of mine, who lives in Texas, told me a story of when he was walking in a deserted place. And this old man, who was Native American, comes walking up to him. The old man asks my friend, “Why do we do rain dances?” “Um, to make it rain?” “No, that’s the trouble with you white folks. You just don’t understand. We dance, so that we can accept that there is no rain?”
Jesus said in the gospel, “Ask and you will receive, seek and you fill find, knock and the door will be opened to you.”
A woman asks: "Please, God, cure me of my cancer." In dealing with her illness, she has accepted the fact that she will die eventually. She comes to cherish each moment she has. Hence, her relationship with her husband becomes stronger; she grows closer to her children, especially one daughter from whom she had become increasingly distant. The disease runs its course - but she learns to live her life to the full and she spends every moment to the end in the embrace of her loving family. And it is that love that she leaves behind. She asks - and she receives insight, understanding and peace.
A teenager seeks the answer to the question every teenager asks: "What am I supposed to do with my life?" He goes about his teen years with all this confusions and disappointments, some triumphs and discoveries; and he realizes that he is not a child anymore and not the center of the world; he learns how to be responsible and how to care about people other than himself and about things bigger than his own wants. So, working at a summer camp for kids-at-risk proves to be a life-changing experience for him. He decides to major in social work in college. Not much money, but its work that makes a difference. He seeks - and finds fulfillment in helping families keep it together.
Scared to death, she knocks on the door. Life will change when that door opens: a new career, perhaps; the beginning of a life of service in a religious community, maybe; an unexpected call to care for a desperately ill parent; meeting her future in-laws for the first time. But she's ready. She's confident in her skills, in her faith; the love that has enveloped her enables her to envelope others. She knocks - and whatever is on the other side of the door, she is confident God's grace will enable her to walk through.
Most often our prayers are not big enough. We ask, we seek, we knock . . . but with too limited a scope, too specific with dimensions, too little our understanding. I believe that’s why so many folks no longer come to church, or no longer pray . . . because they wanted something very specific from God and it didn’t turn out.
So ask yourself when you are making a request to God, what do you really want? For example, let’s say that you have been praying for that shoulder pain to go away. Is that it? Or is it really to for you to have some peace, some joy again.
Or let’s say you having been asking God to give so-and-so a job. Is that it? Or is it so that you don’t have to worry so much about them? Or if your prayer is to win the lottery? Would it be easier if you just came up with the real truth . . . that you want peace in your life and not stress.
As Jesus said in the gospel, God does answer, God will answer, God has answered . . . but usually it is with an answer that is bigger than we could ever imagine. It is of peace, or of joy, of wisdom or of understanding.
I can’t tell you how many times, people tell me that when they prayed for this specific thing, another (and different) thing occurred and it turned out to be much better than what they desired.
What do you need? St. Paul says in Roman 8:26, “We do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit . . . intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” A good start, with your prayer is with the fruits of the Holy Spirit . . . such as wisdom, Awe of God, understanding, knowledge, courage, reverence. And there are more . . . wonderful gifts such as love, hope, faith, harmony, support, acceptance.
Well, just to make sure that you are mindful of what the Holy Spirit can do and how God will provide, there are big poster boards at each exit with Post-It notes attached to them. Each containing a word of something you may ask of God. We invite you to take a Post-It note home with you today . . . and as you pray this week, ask God for that BIGNESS of spirit. Pray upon what you may need and let God answer. Be open to how God might surprise you.