<\/p>\n
So, all we have to do is ask and it will be given to us!\u00a0 Now I know there are some of you out there who are chuckling over that one.\u00a0 A kind of a cynical chuckle, too.\u00a0 Because there are lots of times we ask for things from the Lord and it seems like we don\u2019t get them.\u00a0 So, how can it be that our prayers are always answered?<\/p>\n
Well, first notice that our Gospel ends with what seems like a disconnect, something that does not appear to be all that relevant to Jesus claim that God will always answer our prayers.\u00a0 Jesus says: \u201cDo to others whatever you would have them do to you\u201d.\u00a0 But I think these words from Jesus do help explain the paradox of God answering our prayers when we don\u2019t feel that He has.\u00a0 Because God is doing to us what we would do ourselves if we had the knowledge, wisdom, and ability that God has.<\/p>\n
Think of it this way, and this is a pretty accurate analogy when you really think it through.\u00a0 When a very young child asks you for something, do you always give them what they want, or do you sometimes, even most of the time, give them something else altogether, and even in some cases, don\u2019t give them anything at all?\u00a0 You better believe it.\u00a0 And the reason is that you have their best interests at stake.\u00a0 You know better than they do what is good and what is bad for them in a given situation, and in fact, you are only doing for them what you would wish they would do for you if the situation were reversed.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I wouldn\u2019t give my granddaughter the poker for the fire last weekend or give my grandson a third piece of candy when he wanted it, and why I wouldn\u2019t let either of them play near my neighbor\u2019s electric fence.\u00a0 And clearly, there are times these young children don\u2019t understand.\u00a0 They can even feel upset and hurt by our lack of responsiveness,<\/p>\n
Well, it is the same way between God and us.\u00a0 God sees what is really best for us. \u00a0Sometimes that promotion, that job, that position on the team, that car, and lots of other things that we want are not what is best for us at all.\u00a0 Occasionally we are lucky enough to recognize the wisdom of God\u2019s actions or lack of action after the fact.\u00a0 Like when something better came along and we see that we really didn\u2019t want what we originally wanted anyway.<\/p>\n
Now a lot of it has to do with what we pray for and how we pray for it.\u00a0 A mature attitude in prayer really helps- by asking for what we really do need in a really effective way.\u00a0 The story from Esther is a great example of how we should pray, particularly when we are faced with really difficult situations.\u00a0 Esther\u2019s was a really dire situation.\u00a0 Although she was married to the King, the King had been tricked by an unscrupulous person into ordering all of Esther\u2019s people killed.\u00a0 Notice that Esther does several things in her prayer.\u00a0 First, she gives praise and acknowledges God.\u00a0 Then, she is extremely humble and sincere in her request.\u00a0 Next, she is more concerned for others than her own self.\u00a0 And, she turns control over to the Lord.\u00a0 Lastly and most importantly, she is willing to do her part.\u00a0 Esther is not asking for some miracle, but rather, she is asking for inspiration.\u00a0 She says \u201cPut in my mouth persuasive words in the presence of the lion and turn his heart to hatred for the enemy\u201d!\u00a0 Esther\u2019s prayer was answered, too.<\/p>\n
God always answers our prayers.\u00a0 But we must ask in the right way, and ask for what is really best for us.\u00a0 Otherwise, God will give us what is ultimately the best for us.\u00a0 And like a small child, we may be too into ourselves and not into God\u2019s plan to recognize what is best for us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thursday of the First Week of Lent Esth C: 12, 14-16, 23-25; Mt 7: 7-12 Dc. Larry Brockman So, all we have to do is ask and it will be given to us!\u00a0 Now I know there are some of you out there who are chuckling over that one.\u00a0 A kind of a cynical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[191,193,192],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=287"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287\/revisions\/293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.deaconlarry.org\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}