Does God answer your prayers as you wish? After all, it is Christ who says,”Ask and it will be given; knock and door will be opened.” Seems pretty clear cut, no? Why are so many of our prayers not answered in their specifics, especially when they seem so reasonable?
Truly, I don’t know, nor do I understand. It cause me to wonder so much about our God who seems so silent when we need to hear from him at life’s most vulnerable time.
But Jesus does say something after this quote that we frequently miss or gloss over: “If you who are wicked know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.” This response says all we need to hear, the Father WILL give the Holy Spirit to those who ask. That’s a guarantee.
I can choose to ask for lots of things in my prayer, but may the petition end with, “Please let yourself Spirit fill me, allowing me to accept however my prayers are answered.” We will ALWAYS be given the Spirit as the answer, a Spirit that will help us to let go of how we believe God should respond.
Please, be persistent in your prayer. Never give up hope when God seems so silent. The more persistent we are, the more the Spirit will be given to us, and it’s the Spirit that will open our ears to hear the voice of Christ, calling us to trust.
Peace,
Fr. Frank