“Ask something of me and I will give it to you!” Wouldn’t it be great to have the Lord say this to us as he did to King Solomon? We can only imagine what went through his mind. I wonder how long this young, new king pondered his response. He could have asked for greater riches, good health, long life, political and military power, but he gave a response that pleased the Lord: “Give your servant an understanding heart.”
What would our response be? An honest response would tell us a great deal about ourselves. It would tell us what we treasure most, where our values lie. It’s amazing how often prayer turns into a wish list—things we want from God. Sure, our petitions are often honorable—safety, reconciliation, peace, health, happiness, family harmony. But we have to be careful that our prayer doesn’t become narcissistic, where everything is centered on ourselves.
In his book, I Heard God Laugh, the popular Catholic author, Matthew Kelly warns us about this and advises that we make a seismic shift in our spiritual life by not asking God for what WE want and start asking what HE wants. He writes, “When we stop asking God for favors, for our will to be done, we begin to open ourselves to much more than his will. We open ourselves to his wisdom. As we mature spiritually, we realize that to want anything other than the will of God is foolish…This doesn’t mean that we never ask God for anything—it is natural… for a child to ask his or her loving father for something—it just means that the focus of our prayer changes.”[pp. 69-71]
Solomon’s prayer had the right focus. He asked for the essential gift that would enable him to order his life not according to his desires, but by God’s.
What do we ask of God? When the focus of our prayer becomes telling God what we think he should do according to the schedule we set, then it is time to make the seismic shift in our spiritual life. Fr. Leo Trese says: “Asking God for what we want…is one purpose of prayer, and a good one. However, in the rank of importance, it holds the last place…If God never sees us except with our hand out, we have little claim on the bounty of God…Being who He is, He may have pity on our ignorance or patience with our selfishness, but our prayers will be low grade ore indeed.” [Seventeen Steps to Heaven, pp. 120-121]
God always wants what is best for us. Our happiness always lies in our union with God’s will. Even though from the human perspective, what God wills may sometimes be unpleasant, it leads ultimately to what is best for us. St. John Paul II recommends this bold approach in prayer: “Tell him: Lord, I want nothing other than what you want. Even those things I am asking you for at present, if they take me an inch away from your Will, don’t give them to me. If you don’t want these things, why should I? You know best. Your will be done.” [Homily, 27 July 1980]
Loving Father, grant me an understanding heart, a heart ready and willing to say, “Thy will be done” and not insist that my will is best. Help me remember that I am not in control, Lord, you are, Help me to step into whatever path you lay before me, even when it looks different from what I thought I wanted. I know you have bigger plans for my life, so I place my trust in you. Open my heart to listen to your voice over the distractions and allurements that surround me. Direct and govern my steps always. Amen.
