THY WILL BE DONE

I have a confession to make. When the lotto jackpot reached a billion-peso (on October 2018), I bet. I kept my ticket close the image of Our Lady of Manaoag, and fervently prayed that I would bring home the bacon and provide for my community and family. As the day for the draw came closer, my prayers were intensified. But God answered someone else's prayers. Two winners shared the billion-peso jackpot. I stopped betting on the lottery, but I continued praying for a good life.

St. Therese of Lisieux wisely said: Prayer is, for me, an outburst from the heart; it is a simple glance darted upwards to Heaven; it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as in the midst of joy! Prayer is an expression of one's most cherished thoughts and emotions directed towards God; always an expressions of thanksgiving and love even in trials and difficulties. Such disposition manifests our confidence to God who presents Himself as our Father; the One who provides for the needs of His children even before His children utter their needs to Him.

Through prayer, we not only communicate ourselves to God, in the process, but we also build communion with God. A strong bond of Father-children relationship is established through our prayers. Relationships, after all, are conceived and nourished through healthy communication lines. Praying is a grace given to us by God who long to converse with us, His children. In moments when we call God for help, he answers us. The Lord hears us and will never forsake us. Sometimes, we may find it difficult to verbalize our thoughts, feelings, and emotions before the Lord. Thus, we ask God to teach us how to pray, as children would beg their parents to teach them the rudiments of life. Jesus taught as the Lord's Prayer; a cry to the Father. The Lord's prayer succinctly summarizes our deepest desires in life: our longing to understand His will, our need for daily sustenance, the forgiveness of our sins, and our protection against the evil one.

Beside thanksgiving and love, in our prayers, we direct to God our needs. We ask, seek, and knock before the good Lord for our various needs: Give us this day our daily bread. Begging the Lord in our prayer requires from us humility; admittance from our part of our true identity, as children dependent to their Father. Humble (truthful) children of God as we are, we beg the Father for assistance. The good news is, even before we open our mouth to pray, the Lord already knows our needs and what is best for us.

Then, why should one pray? We pray not only to give thanks and beg for His assistance, but we also pray that we may understand and accept the will of God in our life: Thy will be done; an expression of total confidence in Him who does good to us and knows what is best for us. Thus in praying, we do not desire to change the will of God and impose our very own desire. I remember the story of Abraham Lincoln and a pastor who he prayed with, in the eve of the battle of Gettysburg. The pastor prayed that God might be with them against their enemies (pumanig ang Diyos sa atin). Though not so religious, Lincoln retorted that they should pray to be on God’s side instead (pumanig sila sa Diyos). God is unchanging. No amount of rituals and lighted candles can change His will (One devotee in Cebu, lighted 5,000 candles in their chapel. In his prayers, he hoped to pass the board exam. In the end, their chapel was razed to the ground). We are to pray that we may appropriate His will into our lives, not ours. Jesus says: Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. But He does not say ask and the one you ask will be given to you; seek and you shall find what you seek; and knock and that particular door which you are knocking will be opened to you. He only promised that you shall receive, find and the door will be opened. The door that will be opened to us, the things we shall receive, and the things we shall find are the things the Lord desires for us (though not necessarily the things we wanted). God will provide those that are best for us. They may not necessarily be the things we want or desire but they are definitely better than the best we thought. Marami tayong hinihingi sa Dios na hindi Niya binigay, ngunit lalong marami ang mga bagay na binigay Niya na hindi naman natin hiningi.  As His will unfold before us, we roll up our sleeves, and do our part. As St. Augustine said:  Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

In faith, we patiently await as his plans become unraveled to us (that may come to us piece by piece). We pray with a persistence that we may understand the will of the Father in our life; that they may be fulfilled in us in His perfect time, according to His will.

I would like to end this reflection with this beautiful prayer:

I asked for strength and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for wisdom and God gave me problems to solve.

I asked for prosperity and God gave me brains and a strong body which I can use to work to earn wealth.

I asked for courage and God gave me dangers to overcome.

I asked for patience and God placed me in situations where I was forced to wait.

I asked for love, and God gave me needy people to help.

I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted but I received everything I needed

My prayers have been answered.

The Lord, according to His will, will surely answer our prayers. And so we say: Thy will be done!