JESUS, THANK YOU FOR INCREASING MY FAITH
[THURSDAY, 1 MARCH 2012]
Gospel Reading: Matthew 7:7-12
“Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! So whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them; for this the law and the prophets. (Mt 7:7-12 RSV)
Prayer: Jesus, increase my faith. I have a hard time with Your teaching about asking and receiving. I know I have prayed until my heart was about to break, and I cried for Your help, but I did not get what I was asking for. Maybe I had the wrong reasons; maybe I was asking for the wrong thing – and looking back at some of those times of long ago, I understand that it must have been better that You did not give me what I asked. Because everything You intend to give me must be wrapped in Your love for me. And some things I ask for concern just my poor weak human love.
I will keep asking for what I think is good, but if the things I ask for are not expressions of Your love for me, I do not want them.
Jesus, thank You for increasing my faith. Amen.
The prayer is taken from Fr. Killian Speckner OFMConv., THE PRAYERS OF FATHER KILLIAN – A Franciscan Missionary’s Guide to Daily Devotion, Paraclete Press, 1986.