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Good morning, Father Angelo,

first, I thank you for your “column” made available to us, believers or not, to submit the questions that are so important to us.

In this regard I contact you about prayers.

I am one of those believers who often repeat: “God does not listen to my prayers”, yet Jesus in the Gospel told us several times that he would listen to our prayers. In the Sermon on the Mount, He says: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Mt 7:7-8).

He also commands it by Saint Paul: “It is my wish, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands, without anger or argument” (1Tim 2:8).

He also teaches us to ask in the right way, and that is in His name. At the last supper He said: “Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete” (Jn 16:24).

He also asks them to pray uninterruptedly: “Then he told them a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary” (Lk 18:1).

There is a further passage that always struck me: “Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive” (Mt 21:22) and: “all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours” (Mk 11:24).

And precisely about the latter, it is where I pause and meditate.

Whatever we ask for in prayer, we must have faith that we have already obtained it.

What does it mean exactly and how to pray in that way?

Does God not answer our prayers for that reason? Why do we not have faith that we have already obtained what we ask for in prayer to Him?

Dear Father Angelo, would you help me understanding if it is quite so and what that verse in Mk 11:24 exactly means?

Thank you.

Kind regards.

Francesco

The Priest’s answer 

Dear Francesco,

everything you wrote is true and I add other things to revive the confidence of obtaining what we ask for in prayer.

1. First, we must keep in mind the love of God the Father towards us. He Himself said by David that “You satisfy the desire of those who fear you; you hear their cry and save them” (Ps 145[144]:19).

The translation is correct because it is taken from Hebrew.

But the Latin text of the Vulgate is even stronger: Voluntatem timentium se faciet: He will do the will of those who fear Him, that is, of those who love Him, or rather, of those who obey Him.

Therefore, the first condition to be heard is to be friends of God, living in grace and having the concern not to offend the Lord in anything, not even in venial sins.

2. The Lord does not deny anything to his friends if they ask for something, as He himself said in John 16:23: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.”

St. Thomas specifies that we begin to ask for something if we ask for material goods in relation to sanctification.

Because if the graces we ask for do not serve our sanctification, it is like we were asking for nothing.

Therefore, while we ask, we must commit ourselves to make good use of what the Lord will give us for our sanctification.

You quoted Mark 11:24 which begins with Jesus’ promise “all that…”.

Well, if everything we ask is not for our sanctification, it is like we were asking for nothing.

3. A further reason for confidence in being heard stays in the fact that Jesus Christ is our mediator and continues to intercede for us in heaven.

He himself says through Paul: “Who will condemn? It is Christ (Jesus) who died, rather, was raised, who also is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us” (Rom 8:34). And: “since he lives forever to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25).

However, we must ask ourselves if we can put our prayer in the lips of Jesus because the Lord can ask for us nothing else than something holy and sanctifying.

The Lord, as a good doctor, knows at once whether certain requests are useful for our salvation or whether they can be harmful.

In the latter case, as an act of mercy, he does not grant our wishes.

4. A fourth reason inspires confidence in the effectiveness of prayer: it is the role of the Holy Spirit.

God himself, again through the words by Paul, reminds us that we could not ask at all unless the Holy Spirit would not move us to ask: “In the same way, the Spirit too comes to the aid of our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” (Rom 8:26).

These words do not mean that the Holy Spirit prays for us, because that is the role of Jesus as man, but that the Holy Spirit pushes us to ask with holy groans, in humility and persevering until we create the conditions to be able to receive what God has already decreed to give us: “ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi” (so that we become worthy of receiving the promises of Christ).

5. If our demands are good and holy and we receive nothing from God, we must ask ourselves what we must change to make ourselves suitable to receive what the Lord promised to give us.

St. Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo, when he saw that the divine Providence’s hand seemed to be shortening, said: “Someone here is playing the part of Jonah”. That is to say: someone is not behaving well, something is not in accordance with God’s will, here.

And after the remedy about what did not comply with God’s will in his house, the Lord’s hand resumed to always be wide as before.

6. Finally, there is the solemn promise of Jesus you already mentioned: “On that day you will not question me about anything. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you” (Jn 16:23).

St. Thomas commented word by word about this promise by the Lord. He also commented on the pronoun “you”, that is, He will give you.

We can be sure of being heard if our prayer is made for ourselves in a humble, pious, and persevering way.

If we ask for others, we certainly do good, but it might occur that they are not well disposed to accept the grace we ask for them.

7. However, according to St. Giuseppe Cafasso, perseveringly praying for those unwilling could obtain the grace of conversion and by that also the disposition of mind to receive what we ask for them.

I bless you, wishing you all the best.

Father Angelo