Jesus
said to his disciples: "Ask and it
will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened
to you. For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be
opened.” [Matthew 7:7-12]
In 1980, I
started working for (now defunct) Thrifty Drug Stores. My first position (Manager Trainee) with them
had me working in a town 45 minutes away, which wasn’t too bad. But when I found out that a guy in the same
position I was in had lost his job and created an opening in a store 10 minutes
from my house, I put in for a transfer.
The Assistant Vice President said, “We don’t transfer Trainees, as a
general rule.” I was bummed, but I prayed
for a change of policy so I could transfer and be closer to my wife and newborn
daughter. A few days later, the AVP
called and said he was going to transfer me, after all!
A couple of
years later, after hard work and dedication to the company, I was promoted to
Store Manager. I was really happy. But one of the drawbacks to that position was
that they liked to move the managers around to prevent them from getting ‘stale’,
so in May 1992 I was moved to the position of Vacation Relief Manager for an
area that required me to drive 2 hours to work, complete a nine-hour shift,
then drive 2 hours home every day, six days a week. I wasn’t ready to deal with the long hours of
absence from my young family (we had two daughters by then). It also put a real strain on my ability to
attend Mass most Sundays and left me precious little time to visit my mother as
often as I should have (and wanted to). I
prayed to God and asked that, if possible, I’d like to have a position
that would allow me to dedicate much more time to Him, to my family, and to my
mom. That was in February 1993.
Two weeks
after starting this prayer, I was informed that my position was being
eliminated and my services would no longer be required. I was devastated! I cried as I drove home to break the news to
my wife, wondering how we were going to continue to provide for our
family. Surprisingly, my wife actually
seemed relieved that I wouldn’t be under so much pressure anymore, and she was
confident I would find other employment soon enough.
The very
next day in the newspaper want ads was a position for a part-time job at U-Haul
with health benefits. I had a big plan
to get the part-time job and go back to school for a couple of years to become
a pharmacist. I made an appointment for
an interview at the local U-Haul that same afternoon. By the end of the day, I had been offered a
full-time position with benefits as a Manager Trainee. At the start of the following week, I began
my 25-year career with U-Haul with the promise of Sundays off so I could attend
Mass with my family, at a location that was directly across the street from my
mother’s apartment! My advancement within that company would eventually
require me to spend a lot of time away from the family once again, but it also continued
to allow me to spend time in worship and more time with my mother than Thrifty
had allowed. I thank God every day for His
compassion towards me and His answers to my prayers.
When you
pray with deep faith, will our Lord give you whatever you ask? Certainly not. Jesus did say, “Ask and it will be given to
you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” But
this statement must be carefully read within the whole context of Jesus’
teaching here. The fact of the matter is
that when we sincerely ask in faith for “good things,” meaning that which our
good God wants to bestow upon us, He won’t disappoint. Of course, this doesn’t mean that if we beg
Jesus for anything whatsoever that He will give it to us.
What are
those “good things” that our Lord will most certainly give to us? First and foremost, it’s the forgiveness of
our sins. We can be absolutely certain
that if we humble ourselves before our good God, especially within the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, we will be granted the freely given and
transforming gift of forgiveness.
In addition
to the forgiveness of our sins, there are many other things we need in life,
and there are many other things that our good God wants to bestow upon us. For example, God will always want to give to
us the strength we need to overcome temptations in life. He will always want to provide for our most
basic needs. He will always want to help
us grow in every virtue. And He most
certainly wants to bring us to Heaven. It’s
these things that we must especially pray for every day.
But what
about other things, such as a new job, more money, a better house, acceptance
into a certain school, a physical healing, etc.? Our prayers for these and other similar things
in life should be prayed for but with a caveat. The “caveat” is that we pray that God’s will
be done. Not ours. We must humbly acknowledge that we don’t see
the big picture in life and don’t always know what will give God the greatest
glory in all things. Therefore, it may
be better that you not get that new job, or be accepted at this school, or even
that this illness not end in healing. But
we can be certain that God always will bestow upon us that which is best for us
and that which enables us to give God the greatest glory in life. The crucifixion of our Lord is a perfect
example. He prayed that that cup be
taken from Him, “but not my will but Yours be done.” [Luke 22:42] And, of course, the Father saw the great
eternal value in the death of His Son on the Cross and answered that prayer of
His accordingly.
How do you
pray? Do you pray with detachment from
the outcome, knowing that our Lord knows best? Do you humbly admit that only God knows what
is truly good for you? Trust this to be
the case and pray with complete confidence that God’s will be done in all things,
and you can be certain that He will answer that prayer.
Dear Lord
of infinite wisdom and knowledge, help me to always place my trust in Your
goodness and care for me. Help me to daily turn to You in my need and to trust
that You will answer my prayer according to Your perfect will. I place my life
into Your hands, dear Lord. Do with me as you wish. Jesus, I trust in You.
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