Personal Reflections for the Soul
Unanswered Prayers
“YOU ASK BUT DO NOT RECEIVE....” James4:3
Pastor Jerry Sittser writes: ’What would happen if all our prayers were answered? I thought about my early years when I was ready to conquer the world, with or without Christ. The group I led grew, I was riding a wave of success, everything I touched turned to gold. Eventually the ministry levelled off and lost momentum. Thank God it did.....I’d become insufferably proud, a self-appointed expert. What would have happened if my prayers had been answered, our group had continued to grow and our programme had continued to receive recognition?”
James says, ‘You ask but do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives.’ There are certain prayers God won’t answer for your own good. Sittser continues: ‘Your cause may be right, but you may still be wrong; manifesting pride, gloating in victory, punishing wrongdoers with excessive severity and excusing sin. The great hazard for people on a crusade is .....they become blind to their own faults. They fight for civil rights but treat .....janitors like second-class citizens. They uphold standards of biblical sexuality, but show little grace towards their spouse. Unanswered prayer is God’s gift...it protects us from ourselves. If all our prayers were answered we’d abuse the power....use prayer to change the world to our liking, and it would become hell on earth. Like spoiled children with too many toys and too much money, we’d grab for more. We’d pray for victory at the expense of others...intoxicated by power...we’d hurt people and exalt ourselves. Isaiah said: “The Lord longs to be gracious to you....therefore He waits...” (Isaiah 30:18). Unanswered prayer protects...breaks....deepens....and transforms. Past unanswered prayers which left us hurt and disillusioned, act like a refiner’s fire to prepare us for future answers.
You’ll get through the storm.“IT IS I; BE NOT AFRAID.’ Mark 6:50
Are you in a storm today? Then read these words: ’The boat was in the middle of the sea and He was alone on the land. Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost and cried out...But immediately He talked with them and said to them.... “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. (Mark 6: 47-51). There are four lessons here for us:
1. It’s when we feel most separated from God that He’s teaching us the most. Dave Dravecki said, ‘Looking back .....I have learned that the wilderness is part of the landscape of faith, and every bit as essential as the mountaintop. On the mountaintop we are overwhelmed by God’s presence. In the wilderness we are overwhelmed by His absence. Both places should bring us to our knees; for one, in utter awe; the other in dependence.
2. God doesn’t show up early. Usually He comes in the worst part of the storm when you think you can’t take any more-but He will always be on time.
3. God takes us through different storms, revealing more of Himself to us in each one. Otherwise there are aspects of His character, and divine strategies we’d never understand.
4. God’s presence alone should be enough for us in any storm. The moment He shows up and says, “It is I,” our every fear should be calmed.
Don’t lose your peace‘.....YOU WILL KEEP HIM IN PERFECT PEACE, WHOSE MIND IS STAYED ON YOU...’ ISAIAH 26:3
One of the greatest promises in the Bible is, ‘You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.’ Who are you trusting to solve your problems, God or yourself? You need to live by the principle, ‘Do your best, then let God do the rest.’ Too many of us have the idea that it’s wrong to enjoy ourselves while we have problems. We grow up believing that if we can’t do anything else, the least we can do is worry, act stressed out and be miserable. The Bible addresses this: ‘Do not (for a moment) be frightened.....for such (constancy and fearlessness) will be a clear sign...from God’ (Philippians 1:28). This Scripture teaches us that when adversity comes (and it will) we must stay in peace. Satan doesn’t know what to do with us when he can’t get us upset; we’ve taken a powerful weapon out of his hands. ‘For such (constancy and fearlessness) will be a.... sign.....from God.’ Keeping your peace doesn’t exempt you from life’s difficulties; it just allows God to have the last word. By trusting Him completely you are no longer at the mercy of circumstances, other people, or your own emotions and limitations.
Somebody quipped, ‘In times like these it’s helpful to remember that there have always been times like these.’ The question is not will trouble come, but how will you handle it? The writer to the Hebrews says:...’We which have believed do enter the rest...’ (Hebrews4:3). When things go wrong do what God leads you to do, then rest in Him and watch Him work on your behalf!
Providence and Personal Holiness.
Holiness, Health ,and Well-being are manifestations of Divine Unity; of completion – potential and actual ; of release from the tyranny of separate existence . Most of the time , we flounder with the resources sufficient to sustain life, but on rare occasions, we experience positive wholeness, however briefly, and know the joy and freedom of being truly at one with Natural and Divine Intention and the rhythmic “Laws” of Heaven and Earth. This is experienced within Divine Providence, and is a foresight of the Kingdom. It is the blessedness for which we were created, and the Salvation through which we come Home to God. “…. All manner of things shall be well” wrote Julian of Norwich, in her inimitable confidence and trust in this compassionate Providence. In the Gospels, Jesus taught that focussing upon God and Holiness would open up before us the abundance of “all these things” which are the Will of God for every soul. Such richness of Giving can seem overwhelming to us; we are habitually measured and calculating in relationship, because we are isolated in fear and insecurity; heart and imagination are mostly closed. It is easier to think of the “drop” getting lost in the ocean, than to believe that the Ocean longs to fill the drop ! The Ego’s fear of becoming less , or facing “oblivion” denies us the treasures eternally offered to us ; we cannot let go our feverish grip on the egoic chains which maintain the illusion that WE can, and should, and must , determine and control what seems to be our safety and advantage. There is a couplet remembered from childhood which speaks a profound truth; “Because I set no snare , but let the free, All the birds of the air will sing for me “
Ways of putting into Action the Vow of Poverty
To allow myself Freedom from superficiality in order to appreciate everything with more attentive love. (Meister Eckhart writes that if he really paid deep attention to even the smallest of God’s creatures, for example, a Caterpillar, he would be provided with the materials of sermons for the rest of his life !!)
Rev Sister Theresa (Director of Oblates)
Simplicity of the heart is the gateway to real holiness. If we are willing to act upon the heart, then we come to know God...............
By surrendering our heart to God, we therefore free ourselves up to receive God's complete abundance into our daily life.
Without this surrender, there can be no freedom.
Rev. Brother Sean (Director of Hospitality)
To enjoy greater freedom from “things” which clutter my awareness ;
from expectations, mine or other peoples;
from Judgement ; God knows the heart; that is enough;
from fear; have I not received immeasurable blessings , including this day ?
from resentment; my mis-use of consiousness creates my experience of “Karma”;
from vanity; who is the creator ? I have not created so much as a blade of grass.
To perceive everything I experience as a Blessing, no matter how obscure the meaning,or how challenging the Lesson.
To overlook “worldly wisdom”, to be free from “cleverness”, from “power”, from “influence”, from fashion, from consumerism, and above all, from comparison
To Love, to celebrate, to nurture, to comfort and heal, and to rejoice in the life of all beings; To live and die as cheerfully as I can. To put God at the Centre of all things, so that everything falls into place.
Mother Olivea (Mother Abbess) Tau Interfaith Franciscan Community.
