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When you pray to God, what thoughts are you thinking in your mind? What emotions are you feeling in your heart? What is happening in your body? What are the movements in your soul? In your mind, are you thinking that you need to inform God about what you need, about what it is that you are asking of God?
A thought like this is misguided, because God is our Creator, and the Most Holy Trinity knows everything about you… what is happening to you, what you think you need, and what you want God to do for you, but more than this, God knows what you really need the most, and it may not be what it is that you are asking of Him. You may not even be aware or understand.
Perhaps you may be thinking a different thought, that God is not interested or that for some reason you need to convince God about what you think you need. It is not true that God is not interested. It is not true that God needs us to persuade Him to give us good things. However, it is true that often God waits for us to ask for good things. There are many reasons for this.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
In his “Letter to Proba”, Saint Augustine taught that God wants us to exercise our desire. It is hunger that brings us to look for food and to prepare it. It is thirst that brings us to get and to take a drink of water. Bartimaeus called out to Jesus even after “many sternly ordered him to be quiet” and then he cried out even more loudly. The blind man was very motivated to ask for what he wanted from Jesus. He was exercising his desire to see again.
When we pray and ask God for something, we may not be ready to receive it. Our hands may be too full of many things, or we may be too attached to other things, making it difficult or even impossible for us to be able to receive what it is that we are asking of God. It may be that our heart is too narrow and our desire too small to be able to make room for what it is that we ask of God. We may not be willing to forgive someone, or our heart may be full of anger or a desire for vengeance, or our heart may be tied up with many bonds of jealousy. There are so many weeds that can prevent us from being able to receive good things from God.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
We are human and our heart is damaged by evil desires or bad things we
have said or done. Our heart can be choked and overgrown by the weeds of sinful
desires. For these reasons the intentions of our heart need to be purified.
Jesus has given us ways and means to let Him purify our heart. We can go to the
priest and confess our sins with the firm intention of turning away from these
evils from now on. When Jesus lets us wait, He lets us exercise our desire; so
that a desire for the best thing may push out bad desires or desires for good
things that are too small.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
So, you see how many thoughts can distract our mind from the one thing that is necessary, and many emotions might be boiling in our heart and preventing us from trusting in Jesus, but we see how kind and tender Jesus is with the blind man. In the same way, Jesus looks at us with great love and compassion – He feels with us what we are suffering – and He waits patiently for us to exercise our desire by asking again and again for what is good, what is most necessary.
“What do you want me to do for you?”
When you are praying to God, what is going on in your body? Are you doing the dishes? Are you driving your car or in public transit? Are you busy at your work place or your work station? It is very good to send to God short prayers all day long during our many activities. It is also necessary at least once or a few times each day to put aside all other activity, to relax our body and be still inside and outside, and to give our full and complete attention to God. It is a relationship with a living being that unites us with God, and we need to practice reverence and respect for God. This is what the Bible calls the “fear of the Lord”. When we love someone and we want to show them our love, we give them our complete and undivided attention.
“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”
As we pray to God, the Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit are listening to us with great love, and They ask us to put all our trust in Them. One excellent way to put our trust in God is to be willing to endure the waiting. God knows what we really need, but often we don’t know what we really need. As we accept to endure the suffering of waiting for what we seek and for what God knows that we really need, in the very fire which burns within us while we suffer the waiting; God is purifying the intentions of our heart and cultivating within us the very best treasure. The very best treasure is our relationship of communion with the Most Holy Trinity.
“The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”
This is the very best treasure: the grace and the gift of communion with God: the Father, and + the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Let us take a few moments to let the Holy Spirit renew and
deepen our love and trust in God.
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2006-2021 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate of Madonna House
Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC © 2006-2021 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles
Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik,
Montréal QC
