If You Ask Anything. . .

“If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it.”  (John 14:14)

I am sure we have all had the same experience.  We have asked God for something specific and have not received that for which we asked.  St. John’s Gospel has a slightly different take on the issue of intercessory prayer.  In the synoptics Jesus says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”  (Matthew 7:7) 

One of my most memorable experiences is the day that I was called to the front office of St. Peter’s Church where I was living at the time.  One of my duties at this assignment was as Director of the Friars Legion, an office which promoted devotion to St. Anthony of Padua while soliciting support for the ministry of the friars at St. Peter’s.  One of the benefactors of the Union was waiting for me when I got to the office.  He had been very generous to the friars in the past.  He asked to see me on this particular visit to ask if his “special intention” was still among the prayers that we were offering on his behalf.  He was still waiting for God to grant his request.  After I assured him that he and all the members of the Union were remembered daily in our prayers, he smiled and said, “When God grants my request, there’s a little something in it for you.”  With that he patted his pocket and went his way. 

There have been other occasions when similar questions have been asked of me.  It seems to boil down to: “Why isn’t God answering my prayer?”

I’ve heard various answers to this question.  Some will say that God did answer but that the answer was no.  Others will say that perhaps there wasn’t enough faith when the person asked.  Still others will opine that God is waiting to see if we persevere in the prayer.  Of course, one of my favorites is the answer that states that God’s time isn’t the same as ours, and that eventually God will get around to granting our request.  To be honest, none of these answers satisfies me. 

I suppose that we will never completely understand this issue of intercessory prayer until we stand in God’s presence.  However, I cannot help but remember an example from the psalms that answers the question for me.  I refer to Psalm 22 which, coincidentally, will be the psalm from which the response will be drawn in tomorrow’s (Sunday’s) liturgy.  We are all familiar with the opening lament: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?  Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish?”  (Psalm 22:2)  Of course we cannot read this line without thinking of Jesus’ use of this line as he hung upon the cross (Matthew 27:46). 

The response to the psalmist’s question comes a little later in the psalm, but we tend to forget the answer.  “In you our fathers trusted; they trusted and you rescued them.  To you they cried out and they escaped; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.”  (Psalm 22:5-6)  In other words, the experience of our ancestors bears out the claim that God does in fact hear and answer our prayers.  While it may seem that our prayers are being ignored, our history bears witness to the fact that God never abandons us. 

However, we live in a time of instant answers and solutions.  Flip a switch and the light comes on.  Turn a dial and the oven lights.  Press a button and the computer comes to life.  We like instant results.  What’s more, we expect instant results. 

The fact of the matter is that our reality is so much more limited than God’s reality.  God is eternal; we are temporal.  God is everywhere; we are stuck in one place.  God holds the history of the human race in an instant; we carry the burden of year upon year.  God is immense; we are so small.  God is so powerful; we are so limited.  God holds the past, the present, and the future in the blink of an eye; we count the seconds, the minutes, the hours and days of our existence one by one.

God does hear and answer our prayers.  However, we may not realize that truth at this very moment.  However, when we, like the psalmist, cast our minds back to the experience of our ancestors, perhaps we will get a glimpse of this reality.  God has been there for us and will continue to be there until we meet God face to face.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator