One of the most common questions that we priests hear is: “How should we pray?”
Earlier this week we heard a great prayer during a daily Mass (Matthew 20:17-28)—a mother who prayed for her two children to Jesus: “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom.” Jesus’ responded which I would like to continue in the prayers in my life and yours’: “You do not know what you are asking.”
When I was in kindergarten—five years old!—I definitely had a crush with one of my classmate gals, and I remember praying to God that someday I could marry her. Then when I really could “fall in love” in high school and college, I continued to pray for a future wife, being able to have children and even prayed for these hypothetically children.
When I grew in my prayerful life, I noticed a quick pivot with my prayer, and while I do not remember precisely when my prayer changed, my prayer ended with, “Let your will be done.” I also began changing my petition, not necessarily to a future wife and kids, but to hypothetically parishioners.
Today, I am a Catholic priest. I am not married to a woman, and I do not have children, a prayer that I offered for many years. While I was praying, I, similarly with how Jesus spoke to that mother, “I did not know what I was asking…” And, as I had been to International Falls only two times in my life before I was ordained and then shipped up for this assignment as a Pastor, I finally met the parishioners that I had prayed for years earlier.
One part of our prayerful life is actually growing, even when we, “…do not know what we are asking.”
Yes, as Jesus said in another parable that we should ask, seek, and knock, we should always conclude our prayers for God’s will to be done! As we do have our desires, thoughts, wants, and needs, we must continue to grow in our relationship and conversation with God because He knows you better than you know yourself. He loves you more than you can love yourself. He will give you more peace, joyfulness, peacefulness and a mission that will make more sense to you than any of these be done by yourself!
Ask, knock and seek in your prayerful life. Then humbly and conclude that prayer, “Let your will be done!” and with your faith, you may receive everything beyond your own dreams.
God Bless!
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