PRAYING IN JESUS’ NAME GOD’S WILL

May 15, Saturday

 

SIXTH WEEK OF EASTER

 

When we pray, what do we want God to do? Do we want to transform God with our prayers and bend him to do our own will, or do we seek his will? Do we have time in the dialogue of prayer to listen to him? Do we realize that he speaks to us in his word, in Christ, in the Gospel? And that he speaks to us in our personal history, the events of life, in people around us? If we pray in the name of Christ, it should be with Christ’s attitude of openness to God and his will.

 

First Reading: Acts 18:23-28

After spending a considerable time with the Antioch Christians, Paul set off again for Galatia and Phrygia, retracing his old tracks, one town after another, putting fresh heart into the disciples.

A man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a Jew, born in Alexandria, Egypt, and a terrific speaker, eloquent and powerful in his preaching of the Scriptures. He was well-educated in the way of the Master and fiery in his enthusiasm. Apollos was accurate in everything he taught about Jesus up to a point, but he only went as far as the baptism of John. He preached with power in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and told him the rest of the story.

When Apollos decided to go on to Achaia province, his Ephesian friends gave their blessing and wrote a letter of recommendation for him, urging the disciples there to welcome him with open arms. The welcome paid off: Apollos turned out to be a great help to those who had become believers through God’s immense generosity. He was particularly effective in public debate with the Jews as he brought out proof after convincing proof from the Scriptures that Jesus was in fact God’s Messiah.

 

Gospel: John 16:23b-28

Ask in my name, according to my will, and he’ll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!

“I’ve used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I’ll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I’ve revealed to you. I won’t continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won’t need to. Because you’ve gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father.”

 

Prayer

Lord, our God,
when we pray to you
in the name of Jesus, your Son,
give us also his attitude.
May we not seek ourselves in prayer
nor try to force you to do our will,
so that we can enjoy our self-made islands of peace.
Make us restless to seek your will
and to commit ourselves into your hands,
as Jesus your Son did,
who lives with you and the Holy Spirit,
forever and ever. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Aware of what our real needs

Today Jesus makes a solemn promise that whatever his disciples ask the Father in Jesus’ name will be given to them. Up to this, of course, they have not been praying to God through Jesus. That will only happen after the resurrection and ascension. But then it will become the normal way for the Church to pray to the Father as we do in all the prayers in the liturgy of the sacraments. “Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

But it is also true that sometimes we ask for good health for a loved one, we ask for his blessings in the life of our neighbour or our friend or our family member, whom we know is unhappy and lost. We ask it with all the strength and with all the faith because there are situations in which we feel absolutely powerless and from the bottom of our hearts we pray: “Lord, help us / help me”.

But our experience tells us that many times nothing happens. Despite our faith-filled prayer, nothing happens! Is it because God not listen to the prayers of his children? Is it that our prayer is no more than a cry to the deaf ears? Is there no one on the other side? In today’s Gospel Jesus promises that he himself will ask the Father for us and that we will receive an answer… But nothing!

Here we enter the realms of faith, of trust. We believe that we are in the hands of the good father who loves us. And we believe that despite all the pains, physical limitations, illnesses, we are sure that God loves us, in a strange way, but he loves us.” “The Father already loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

Our Father already knows all our needs and he wants to satisfy them for us in his love. When we are closely related in love and faith with the Father and Jesus, the Father provides us with what is the best for us. Our prayer through Jesus is not to tell God something he does not know already. Rather it is to help make ourselves aware of what our real needs are and to go to where those needs will be answered.

 

Video available on Youtube: Aware of what our real needs