For the Glory of God, or the Good of my Soul
God answers all prayers:
Sometimes He says Yes,
Sometimes He says No,
And sometimes He says …
You’ve got to be kidding!
These words graced a placard in my mother’s kitchen for many years. I’ve always liked it, though it arrived in the kitchen long after I had grown up, so was by no means a constant presence during my childhood and adolescence.
We hear often that we are to pray in good times and in bad. We are to ask God confidently for what we need. We are to believe with mustard-seed hope and move mountains through our faith.
Many examples of prayer and faith are before us in Scripture. One memorable case occurred not too long after the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea and begun their travels through the Arabian Peninsula. (Ex 17:8-13) Amalek, king of one of the peoples living there, led his soldiers in battle against the Israelites. Moses sent a younger man, Joshua, to lead a group of men out to battle against the Amalekites. He himself went up to the top of the hill, taking the staff of God with him. This was the staff which had been used before the Exodus to show God’s might to Pharaoh and convince him to let the people leave Egypt. It was the staff used to part the Red Sea as well. It was a sign of the presence of God with the people long before the tablets of the Law and the Ark of the Covenant came on the scene.
Moses took two men with him up to the hilltop, Aaron and Hur. He raised his hands in prayer to the Lord on behalf of the Israelite defenders. As long as his hands were raised in prayer, the Israelites were winning. When he tired and lowered his arms, the battle went against them.
As the hours dragged on, Moses got very tired and finally sat on a rock, with Aaron and Hur helping him hold up his arms in prayer. This made it possible for the physical manifestation of the prayer to continue. With this backing of faith and God’s help, Joshua and his men defeated Amalek and his people by sundown.
In this example of Moses in the desert, the physical action of raising hands in prayer is presented as essential to its efficacy. Does this mean that unless prayer is accompanied by physical action it will not work? Not at all. Prayer is any communication with God. It can be silent, still, and very personal. It can also be expressed physically and in groups through lifting up one’s hands, kneeling, dancing, singing, or other forms of movement.
Jesus was well aware that not all prayers are answered immediately or necessarily in the way the petitioner hopes or expects. Yet he encouraged his followers to continue praying and not give up or get tired of doing so. He told the story of a widow who had to deal with an unjust judge. (Lk 18:1-8) Widows had no real social standing and no one to support or advocate for them. Women had to have a man to protect and speak for them. This woman had no one.
The judge to whom she appealed for help in a case was not interested in anything but his own benefit. He had no interest in helping the powerless widow. After all, it could put him at a disadvantage in dealing with the powerful adversary she was facing. This would not be the first time something like this had happened, nor would it be the last.
But Jesus put a new twist to the story. The woman did not give up. She kept going before the judge and demanding justice. Finally, the judge got tired of her constant demands and appearances before him. He gave her what she wanted.
Jesus noted that God is not like that unjust judge. God cares about people and will pay attention to those who seek help. God will answer their prayers.
Then Jesus wonders, will the Son of Man actually find faith on earth when he returns? Son of Man is a title referring to the Chosen One of God. He used it in reference to himself and wonders if there will still be people who are following his teaching and work for justice when he returns again. Will people like you and me still be filled with faith and trying to live as he taught?
St. Paul touches on the same theme in the letter he sent from prison to Timothy. (2 Tim 3:14-4:2) He reminds Timothy and all of us of the examples and stories of faith and prayer passed down to us through the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as through the teachings of the apostles. We turn to Scripture for understanding of God’s presence in our lives and world and what that means for each of us. We learn from the stories of our ancestors in faith so we are ready to carry on the good work begun by those who came before us. Their example also helps us to persist in our beliefs and behavior, so that the kingdom will continue to grow and spread in our world. The work does not/did not end with the death of the apostles or even of the rest of the first believers. It continued through centuries and millennia, reaching even to our times.
So how do we deal with the reality that it doesn’t always seem that God hears or answers our prayers? A child might say, “I asked God to help me on the test, but I still couldn’t remember the answer!” An adult might pray for a child to return to church again. A person might pray for a better job or for the healing of the illness of a loved one. Many prayers are not answered the way we who offer them are hoping and/or expecting.
Yet there are times when after a great disappointment, and the seeming refusal of God to answer a prayer, something much better happens – something that is totally unexpected. A window opens when a door has slammed shut in our faces.
I go back to a key experience of my growing up years. We always attended a novena to St. Francis Xavier in March. My grandparents had shared this tradition with my parents when they were children and my own parents’ first date was to attend the Novena of Grace. Nearly every year we spent nine days celebrating the Novena. There were two prayers that were offered each day. The first is a prayer that includes mention (silently) of whatever the individual’s petition/request is. In the prayer, petitioners ask St. Francis to go to God and request a particular favor on their behalf. This is not a request for the saint to grant the request. It’s more like asking a big brother or sister to go talk to Mom or Dad on my behalf!
The prayer ends with a statement that I try to remember and encourage you to remember too. “But if what I ask is not for the glory of God, or the good of my soul, obtain for me what is most conducive for both.”
God answers all prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is “You’ve got to be kidding!” And to this I would add, sometimes it’s, “Try this instead, I think it will work out better for all.”
I think this is the mustard-seed faith we must have. We don’t always know what is best. God does. And even when we mess things up, God is still there, loving us and bringing something good to birth. And eventually, mountains move. We can count on it.
Readings for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
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