I came across this quote this evening and it seemed too good not to share.
“In a time of desolation, never forsake the good resolutions you made in better times. Strive to remain patient-a virtue contrary to the troubles that harass you-and remember that you will be consoled.”
-St. Ignatius of Loyola
A week or so ago I went out for a four mile run and returned home to find my husband laying my son to bed. Despite the sweat dripping from my forehead, Jack asked me to help him say his bedtime prayers, and I obliged. We thanked God for everything we could think of-our family, friends, home, food, toys. I then asked Jack if there was anything for which he would like to ask God. He didn’t quite understand. I explained that we can ask Christ for anything, and if it is good for us and good for those around us He will answer our prayer (this was the best spur-of-the-moment explanation I could think to give a four year old). “So, is there anything you’d like to ask God for?” I asked. Jack furrowed his brow deep in thought, and I was proud of his sincerity in considering the matter until a sly smirk slid across his face and he prayed, “Jesus, I ask that Mommy would smell better in the morning.” Touché.
Since this conversation I have thought a lot about whether or not this is a good explanation of prayer, and I believe for the most part that it is. We often do not get what we want because we do not know how to ask for the things that are good. We ask out of selfish ambition or simply out of our own limited understanding of what is and isn’t good. God cannot grant us anything that contradicts His goodness. He sees what we do not and answers according to His complete love for us. All of His works are to our advantage.
Someone once asked me, “Why should God answer your prayers before He answers those of the poor?” Why indeed (Though I have known countless men and women stricken by poverty who were fervently convinced of God’s faithfulness in answering their prayers and providing for their every need)? Why is that we feverishly pray for months, if not years, for emotional or physical healing for a loved one that never comes? Why is it that my little niece will never know what it is like to run barefoot through the grass while fire flies dance all around on a hot summer night? I simply don’t know.
But what I do know is that in the midst of our misery, when the walls are closing in and the goodness of life is being sucked out by loss, pain, fear and regret we must rely wholly on God’s faithfulness, His perfect love and endless provision. Even when it seems as though our prayers fall upon deaf ears, we must choose to believe otherwise, reminding ourselves of all the ways in which the Father has shown His love for us. He can fan even a glimmer of faith into a raging fire and will never let us be put to shame. We must abandon ourselves to Christ who is the light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:5).