In his remarks during the National Prayer Breakfast, the singer Bono recounted that once when undertaking a new charitable outreach, he told a clergyman that he wanted God to bless his efforts. His friend responded, “If you want God to bless your efforts, then get involved in what God is doing — it is already blessed.”
An interesting and helpful perspective. Is it best to start a new venture, make a decision or speak out on an important issue — and then ask God to bless what I have done? Or is it preferable to begin by asking God if it is his will to start that venture, make that decision or speak out? I think it is the latter.
It is natural for us to hope and pray for good outcomes to what we undertake in life. The question is, when do I begin asking God’s perspective?
In some families a young man seeking to marry a young woman will visit her parents to ask their “blessing.” In this case, “blessing” means “approval” of a decision he has already reached. The young man would be happy to receive their approval, but if he does not, he may or may not change his mind about marrying their daughter.
In our dealings with God, we take a different approach. Whatever the issue, we begin by praying, “I want to do your will in this matter, Lord. Help me to know your will.” We give to God the entire decision-making process, and thus it is “blessed,” because from the outset we are seeking what God wants and sincerely opening ourselves to what he has to say.
How does God respond? In a variety of ways, usually in keeping with our temperament and our willingness to listen patiently and humbly. Spiritual masters have always taught that typically God speaks in peace. In other words, if we experience an inner turbulence as we ponder certain possibilities, that is not the voice of God. He speaks peacefully, and his will settles gently in our hearts. It “fits.” What he asks is that we make it our intention — from the very outset — to be obedient to him.
The Latin, Greek and Hebrew words for “obey” all have to do with “listening carefully” or “paying close attention.” Obedience is about listening to God’s Word and submitting ourselves to it. We may have a tendency to think that seeking God’s will is something we do occasionally when faced with a particular challenge or decision, but that is not the case. Seeking God’s will is something we are to do every day, so that every activity and every movement of our hearts is blessed. When the occasion arises that we must face a challenge or make a decision, our ears are already turned toward God, for our orientation is habitually that of seeking his will.
Most of the time we will hear no voice and receive no lightning bolt in answer to prayer for God’s guidance. However, looking for such signs is not the point. The point is to submit the question to God, empty myself of the desire to do only what I want, open myself to God’s intervention, and desire to be obedient to him. I can then go about using the criteria one normally uses in making decisions, trusting that I have placed the whole affair in his hands and that he will guide me as he sees fit.
At times God does not give a clear indication of his will, and he may prefer to remain quiet for his own reasons. It might be his will that we decide for ourselves! If so, he will bring good out of whatever happens.
God wants us to seek only good, but he does not want us to torment ourselves by gruelingly searching for absolute certainty in a way that only increases our anxiety and distracts us from listening quietly to him. St. Faustina offered good advice in this regard: “When one does not know what is best, one must reflect, consider and take counsel, because one does not have the right to act in incertitude of conscience. (If the incertitude remains) one must tell oneself: whatever I do, it will be good, provided that I have the intention to do good … Don’t be chagrined if, after a certain time, you see that these things are not good. God looks at the intention with which we begin …”
God does not want us to be filled with anxiety. We hand over to him our hearts, our desires, our ears, and our wills — practicing daily — and he will not fail us. I recently came across a prayer by Father Jacques Philippe that puts things in perspective:
“Lord, I have thought about it and prayed to know Your will. I do not see it clearly, but I am not going to trouble myself any further. I am not going to spend hours racking my brain. I am deciding such and such a thing because, all things carefully considered, it seems to me the best thing to do. And I leave everything in Your hands. I know well that, even if I am mistaken, You will not be displeased with me, for I have acted with good intentions. And if I have made a mistake, I know that You are able to draw good from this error. It will be for me a source of humility and I will learn something from it!”
Amen.
Do you have an intention for Bishop Sartain’s prayer? If so, send it to him at Bishop Sartain’s Prayer List, Diocese of Little Rock, 2500 North Tyler St., P.O. Box 7239, Little Rock, AR 72217.
Seek God first, new venture will be blessed
