The Lord’s prayer requires us to trust God enough to tell him what we want—over and over and over.
The
second thing to notice about the Lord’s prayer is that people don’t generally
get what they ask for. Ask and you will receive, the Lord says. But how many
people around the world pray the Lord’s prayer and go without food that day?
And food is only the beginning. In every mass, we ask God for healing: “Only
say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Then we lug our sinful, sick, and
sorrowful souls around another day.
So here is the third thing to notice.
Jesus doesn’t promise that we will get the very thing we ask for. He says that
if we ask, we will receive; but he doesn’t happen to mention what we will
receive.
If you think about it, you can see the
point. If a sick person could heal himself, he would be the doctor, not the
patient. The patient’s job is to want to get well. It is the doctor’s job to
figure out how to get him well.
In the same way, the Lord’s prayer
requires us to trust God enough to tell him what we want—over and over and
over. Our job is to ask continually. God’s job is to figure out what to give us
that will really fill us and heal us.
So we might not get what we ask for.
But as long as we keep asking, the Lord promises that we will receive—grace,
pressed down, shaken together, running over, and gently given, from the God who
loves us.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine
Friends who are ASKING You for another favor. Take away aching knees, the pain
in the elbow, heal our family member’s cancer, make the fear of death go away, and
bring peace to our family. Let me end this reflection with this simple,
easy-to-remember, pocket size prayer: “Father, you are good. I need help. Heal
me and forgive me. They need help. Thank you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Please pray for Jeanette's grand nephew Micheal who is recovering from a heart surgery. May the Lord heal Mike with a speedy recovery.
