Watch Out What You Pray For

Jesus said to his disciples:"Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

Okay, I will admit it.  I have a hard time understanding this bit of scripture.  I, myself, have prayed in the name of Jesus and have not received what I prayed for.  To prove to you how long standing this problem is let me tell you what happened to me in the fourth grade.  We had learned in third grade that the Blessed Mother, Mary, had been assumed into heaven, body, and soul and was with Jesus, in heaven in the flesh.  In the fourth grade, I had the bad luck of being assigned to the classroom of Mrs. R. Reid, one of three lay teachers that taught in the hallowed halls of Saint Joseph and Saint Ann School in the Brighton Park neighborhood, southwest side of Chicago, in the 60's.  I think that Mr. Moreset, the janitor, had more teaching ability in his thumb than Mrs. R. Reid had in her whole body.  For some reason, we did not get along.  She failed to understand that I had no interest in jumping through hoops for her and providing homework for her to grade, especially homework that involved that devil's curse, "The New Math." I was constantly on her "S" list because of her complete lack of understanding.  One time, when she received the news that the math homework assigned the previous day, alas, was not going to make an appearance in her inbox, she smiled a devilish smile at me, and after stationing a snitch to write the name of people who talked while she was gone, she left the classroom.  Whilst she was gone I earnestly prayed for her to be assumed into heaven, just like the Blessed Virgin Mary. I figured it was a double win. She would get to experience the happiness of heaven without having to die and I would be rid of her once and for all and without me having to pray that she be killed by a lightning strike.   I figured if this assumption business worked once, Jesus could do it again and spare me a lot of trouble. Alas, it wasn't to be and to make a long story short, I was the subject of an impromptu parent - teacher conference attended that very morning by my mother, Mrs. Reid, and the beloved principal of our school Sister Victoria.  My prayer had fallen on deaf ears. It was not answered.  Well, I know now that it was actually answered but the answer was, "No."  

Asking things of God is a good thing to do.  We are encouraged to approach God and ask for what we need.  Our wisdom does not approach that of God's wisdom.  God will grant our every request, of that we are guaranteed!  But if this is so, why didn't Mrs. Reid float up to heaven on that lovely winter day so very long ago?  It is because God knew that removing that particular obstacle for me, while it would cure a current craving, it would do no good in the long run. Thus, Mrs. R. Reid stayed with her feet on the ground and bit by agonizing bit Michael learned the joys, as best as he could, of the New Math. My prayer to God, like all prayer, is asking our Father if He loves us.  His answer is always a big, "Yes" even if we interpret the answer received as a big, "No."

We must be alert to watch for the answer to our every prayer. In life, we most likely have received answers to our prayers that we did not recognize as answers to our prayer.  We have to keep in mind that God WILL do for us what is in our best interest. 

On this memorial day weekend, please spend a moment or two thanking God for those who have served in our military, putting themselves in harms way so that we might enjoy the freedoms that we have.