Armand Nigro, SJ, urges us to pray for what we want:
When we beg God for sunny weather, or pray that our bursitis will go away, or pray for something more holy or important such as international peace and justice we pay a great compliment to God. This is an expression of “becoming as little children” which Jesus recommended, and honored. A child who comes to his parents and asks for things is paying them a big compliment. What is the child saying but, “You are good and can fill my needs. Please, may I have a candy bar?”
When we approach God with this sense of our absolute dependence, and need, we are conscious of being precious and important, but without Him of being nothing, because all that we have is loved into us by God. In this consciousness, we are profoundly acknowledging what He is and what we are.
I guess being dependent on God is not bad but it still makes me feel guilty at times for the tiny wishes I dare ask from him.
I feel like Kim some times. I don’t want to pester God with my “wish-list” and I also figure He already knows what it is that I want, so why take up his valuable time. The message here is that he wants us to tell Him what’s on our minds, even though He has a pretty good idea already.
I love the line, “all that we have is loved into us by God”. I don’t think I have ever heard this phrase, “loved into us by God”, but it makes me feel so completely loved by God, just to read and to say this phrase to myself.
It makes me happy to read this, because I often feel ashamed that my prayers are not “high” or “mystical” enough. I feel ashamed of my dependence.
Come to think of it, I don’t think Jesus talked much about contemplation in prayer, but He did talk a lot about asking and He asked a lot. Okay — I will resume being dependent on God…