Some time ago I was at a women’s retreat, where we were asked:
–“What do you want to ask God for?”
To which the group responded:
–“Whatever God wants for me.”
The vast majority of us answered it, and there were almost eighty of us. But that answer did not help the purpose of the retreat, so they continued to insist. Since the answer did not change much from the group, the people who organized the retreat changed the question a little, and seeking to receive a more specific answer, they asked us the following:
–“What would you like God to want for you?”
And they invited us to write our answers in a notebook, because they left us thinking. Many of us were so used to not being specific when asking, that it took us a while to define what our petition was going to be.
In your case, when you remember the last time you asked God for something. Was it easy for you to think that you were going to ask him for something? And, was it easy for you to define what you wanted to ask for?
This was precisely what so many women, including me, struggled with at that retreat. We lived with a feeling that time was upon us, and it was very difficult for us to think about the future. We didn’t know how to put our attention on something beyond what was in front of us.
For you, what is your internal stance when asking God for something?
What the people who organized the retreat later realized is that many of us were so used to think about others first, to such a degree that we did not pay attention to our own interior. Then they explained to us that it was not about “serving” others at the expense of oneself, but rather remembering that if we do not have love, we will not be able to give love. They made it clear to us that not including ourselves in our own considerations can create false humility.
Some time passed, and some of the women who participated in the retreat got together, and we realized that some of us did receive what we asked for in that retreat, even though it was difficult for us to articulate it. There were others who until then had not received a response to their prayer. But what we did notice is that regardless of whether or not we received a response to our prayer, it was no longer so difficult for us to ask God in our personal prayer. And that was a big change in and on itself.
At another time in my life, I met a young woman, whom considered herself to have lived much of her life according to what God commanded. Going to church on Sundays, receiving the sacraments, and aiming to doing no harm to anyone.
But for some reason, when she tried to ask God for something, she didn’t feel right asking, or she asked for something very “small,” or she asked without expectations. And also thinking that she was not going to receive it.
She expressed that she had some resentment toward some acquaintances who she considered “did not live the faith like she did,” but who did receive answers from God to their prayers. She perceived it that way because they were in the same prayer group.
Why would it be that some people receive answers to their prayers and others don’t? Will it be a matter of time and trust? Notice what arises in you as you contemplate these questions.
The young woman wondered what was happening, because she considered that doing the things that God asks, and how he asks, would be enough for her to receive a response in the way she expected.
Some of us have no problem asking for what we long for. And others do hesitate to ask. What is your experience when asking for something in your prayer?
There is a moment when Jesus says that if we abide in him, as the branches abide in the vine, whatever we ask for will be granted to us.
The young woman I met assumed that it was only her literal actions that were going to grant the answer to her prayers, but when observing a vine, the branches do not do any activity. And this is one of the images that Jesus uses to describe that whatever we ask for, can be granted.
Again, I invite you to remember a time when you asked God for something. Did you do anything before? Did you fully trust when you asked?
Jesus does not detail what it means to abide in him in a practical, concise and precise way. But He does illustrate to us what it means to be in union with him. He invites you and me to observe how the branches bear fruit, simply by being united to the vine, without needing to do anything.
I invite you to think about the last time you did a favor for someone very dear to you, someone very close to your heart. Did you set any conditions before supporting him / her?
Someone who loves you unconditionally is not going to make demands on you when you ask for help.
The answer comes from God. And Jesus invites you and me to ask him in prayer.
Ask God in your prayer, Jesus invites you to do it, and surely we will have the appropriate inspiration for our actions.
If, like that group of women at the retreat, it is difficult for you to articulate your prayer, I invite you to
consider the next question:
–“What would you like God to want for you?”And that can be your starting point.
Marisol
P.S. We can listen to what Jesus says about abiding in him in the readings for the V Easter Sunday, Year / cycle B.
