“Today bring to Me the pagans and those who do not yet know me. I was thinking also of them during My bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My Heart. Immerse them in the ocean of My mercy.” Divine Mercy in My Soul # 1216
For whom do you pray? A question to ponder not to condemn. If you are like me, most of my life I’ve prayed for purely selfish reasons. Most of those prayers, especially before I came into a real relationship with God, were all about getting things I wanted and thought were good. God was my bending machine or maybe a better analogy would be that He was my genie. You know, give me my wish…. Sometimes I would offset my desire by trying to trick God into giving me what I wanted if I promised Him something He wanted – that being my heart.
My prayers have still centered upon the selfish even after coming to know God more fully. No longer do I want magic or gifts, or even the lottery numbers. Now, I fool myself into altruism by praying for others over myself. But, those ‘others’ are those most dear to me. I’ve asked tens of thousands of times in prayer for miracle healing for my daughter. I’ve lifted my kids in prayer more than I can count, if they would just turn back to God and give Him their hearts. I’ve prayed for my wife’s sanctity and protection. Or for dear friends. Doesn’t sound selfish? maybe not totally but in the end I am trying with my ‘holy, selfless’ prayers to control and design God’s Will.
When I did my Consecration to Jesus through Mary this prayer problem struck me. I did my Consecration with friends at the behest of one of the greatest men I know through ‘33 Days to Morning Glory” by Father Michael Gaitley. One of the things that struck me on our relationship with the Holy Spirit and Blessed Mother is that to truly surrender our will, we need to give our prayers to her fully to use according to God’s Divine Will.
So, when I am trying to offer my prayers for those closest to me, I am selfishly trying to control God. I know I need to give everything, even my deepest desires to God to do with how HE chooses. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t offer prayers for people closest, only that I should trust God for the results.
Day 4 of the Divine Mercy Novena asks us to bring to Jesus those who do not believe in God and those who do not yet know Him. These souls and these prayers bring great consolation to Jesus as He suffers through His bitter passion. I take this to the next step by saying, offer the prayers most dear to your heart to these souls. Though they may be in China or South Africa or any where else in creation, surrender your greatest desires and those prayers you’re most passionate about to the Blessed Mother Mary and God to apply to these or any souls HE chooses.
Your selfless offering of these prayers for love of God and Mary will NEVER be outdone in love. Nor will they ignore your needs.
Trust and surrender.