I very rarely do WHATEVER He tells me to do – and then I have the audacity to wonder why I do not receive the miracles…
I have been thinking about prayers.
It is relatively easy for me to pray very hard when I really need something. At times like that I tend to focus my energies unflinchingly on the matter at hand and “storm Heaven” so to speak because the matter is grave. But when things are flowing smoothly and everything is in its place, I do not feel any great urgency for prayer and do not reach out to God, instead coasting along…
In the Old Testament, we are told the story of Naaman, the Syrian leper wished for the prophet Elisha to be healed of his leprosy (2 Kings 5). What did Elisha do? No spells, prayers or incantations – just washing in the river seven times. And when he finally calmed down enough to actually do what needed to be done without questioning the logic or purpose of the instruction, he was cured. Not because he washed seven times in the river, but because he did WHATEVER he was told to do.
And I have been reflecting on this today as I have been reflecting on my role as a daughter of God. You see, the Blessed Virgin is the Daughter, Spouse and Mother of God and she showed me how to pray…
“There was a marriage at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; Jesus also was invited to the marriage, with His disciples. When the wine failed, the mother of Jesus said to Him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘O woman, what have you to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever He tells you.’ Now six stone jars were standing there, for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’” (John 2:1-11).
There at that marriage feast, the wine was short. Was it a disaster? Possibly from a social perspective, but it was hardly a matter of life and death. Was it a problem that would affect the course of a life or the fate of a nation? Certainly not. It was a small, private and domestic matter… And even in this very small thing, the Blessed Virgin absolutely trusted not only the POWER of God, but His infinite MERCY as well…
When Christ told His disciples to hand out the loaves and the fish, they did WHATEVER He told them to do – and miracles happened. When Christ told the blind man to wash his eyes in the pool, he did WHATEVER Christ said. And when I consider myself today, I have to hang my head in shame, because I very rarely do WHATEVER He tells me to do – and then I have the audacity to wonder why I do not receive the miracles…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.