UNANSWERED PRAYER

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gn 18: 20 – 32 / Ps 138 / Col 2: 12 – 14 / Lk 11: 1 – 13

“Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

You might want to ask: why is still there unanswered prayers? You have asked for an “utang-free” life (debt-free life) but every day the interests in your debts increase. You seek the help of many saints yet your problems are getting bigger and bigger. You have knocked at many churches from Simala to the Basilica but the Lord seem quiet.

My dear friends, this Sunday let us reflect on the reality of UNANSWERED PRAYERS. But let us begin by defining first what is PRAYER according to our Gospel today.

Most of us have always been concerned on the “how” of prayer. We are concerned with the steps and contents of our prayer. The disciples in our Gospel today even asked Jesus, “to teach us how to pray.”

Jesus is giving us a new meaning of prayer when he said, “Father, hallowed be thy name.” To call on God as our Father denotes a relationship. Prayer, therefore, is not formulary but a relationship. It is a living relationship between our Father in heaven and us his children. Like Abraham in the First Reading today who was so open to God with his bargain, in our prayer, we must also be open to God with what it happening inside of us. If you are happy, then, tell God of your happiness. If you are angry with him, then, express to God your anger. Anyway, he is our Father who only desires the best of us.

Now let us turn our reflection on the reality of UNANSWERED PRAYER. We ask, when does your prayer become unanswered? Of course, it is when what you ask for, what you seek, and what you knock from, the Lord, is not given to you. When our dreams do not become realities; when our desires are not met – these are all unanswered prayers.

However, Jesus insists towards the end of our Gospel that if a wicked man give good gifts to his children, “how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” The question therefore on unanswered prayers is not about God. And our Psalmist attests to this when he sang, “Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me!” God always answers our prayers.

But when our prayer becomes unanswered, we are therefore invited to ask ourselves, “what do I really want?” If we want God, then, we must ask for things that can bring us to God, and the Father in heaven will surely answer our prayers. No responsible father is stupid enough to give his children things which are dangerous for them. It’s the same thing with God, our Father. Let us therefore examine the things we are asking from God – whether these things will bring us closer to Him; whether these things will nourish our relationship with him.

My dear friends, this Sunday we are invited to truly check our innermost desires because God’s rejection is his redirection of our intentions, from being selfish to selfless. After all, God’s thoughts are not ours; His ways are not our ways. All we have to do is to trust in his providence, to trust in his mercy.

I once read this beautiful poem by an unknown writer. It goes,

“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 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 troubled people to help.

I asked for favors and God gave me opportunities.

I asked for everything so I could enjoy life.

Instead, He gave me life so I could enjoy everything.

I received nothing I wanted, I received everything I needed.”

With this, I begin to doubt if there are really unanswered prayers. Are our prayers really left unanswered by God? Or is it we who have not answered God’s invitation to enter into a loving relationship with him in our prayer? Amen.