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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“Ask, and it will be given to you;

search, and you will find;

knock, and the door will be opened to you.

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For the one who asks always receives;

the one who searches always finds;

the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him.”

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– Matthew 7:7-8 (JB)

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REFLECTION…

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In speaking of the effectiveness of prayer,

Jesus does not put any restriction:

"the one who asks always receives".

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However, we do not always obtain what we ask for,

and many take this apparent contradiction

to mean that God does not exist

or that He does not really love us.

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We’ve all experienced this, either personally or second hand.

It’s not an easy matter to explain,

especially given the disposition of the one who feels let down.

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St Augustine, however, has a simple insight to resolve this apparent dilemma:

“Aut mali; aut male; aut mala.”

When we do not get what we ask for in prayer,

something is wrong on our part –

either we’re bad and our personal dispositions are not good (mali);

or we pray badly, without faith, not persevering, not humbly; (male);

or we are asking for inappropriate or bad stuff;

that is, things which are not good for us, things which can harm (mala).

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In the final analysis,

prayer is ineffective when it is not true prayer. .

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Change my heart, O Lord,

remove all that is not from You

and fill it with a loving, patient and total trust in You.

Your will be done, O Lord.

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