We tend to pray with great intensity for the things we want, but do we ever think of praying for what God wants? It is very important that when we pray, we move with the current of God’s will, and not against it. This is true even when we are praying for someone we love tremendously. (Catherine de Hueck Doherty)
Category: intercession
“Give God that nothing”
I am re-reading a slim volume on Mother Teresa, titled I Loved Jesus in the Night. This book increases my hope whenever I pick it up. Today while reading, I was reminded of something I wish I would remember more often–and that is that nothing in our life need be wasted. We can offer whatever we suffer, however small or insignificant it may seem, to God for the sake of others. Whenever I do remember this truth, it makes such a world of difference for me. It lifts me out of my small world of seemingly petty sufferings–mostly of my own making–into God who holds all things in His massive Heart.
If at the time of prayer or meditation it seems to you that not only have you been distracted in your prayer, but that you have done nothing at all, never leave that time or that place of prayer angry or bitter with yourself. First–turn to God and give God that nothing. (Mother Teresa)
P.S. I am continually struck by how much Mother Teresa was influence by her namesake, St. Thérèse, who wrote in one of her early letters: “If I felt that I had nothing to offer to Jesus, I would offer Him that nothing.” (LT 76)
Friends in high places
It’s good to remember that we have friends in high places.
A quote from St. Bernard of Clairvaux, whose feast it is today:
. . . we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. . . . we must above all seek the prayers of the saints. Thus, what is beyond our powers to attain [the blessedness of being with Christ] will be granted through their intercession.
It’s good to remember that we have friends in high places.
His wounds that speak more loudly than words
Jesus “always lives to make intercession for us” (Heb 7.25).
Here is a major reason for you to have hope: Jesus “always lives to make intercession for us” (Heb 7.25). He continually stands before the Father showing Him His wounds that speak more loudly than words, the wounds He gained by the passion of His love for you and that He chose to maintain in His flesh after His resurrection. Think about that: He wanted to keep His wounds. St. Bernard says: “Thy Heart has been wounded so that the visible wound should make us know the invisible wound of love.” Another place he says: “The iron has pierced His soul and has touched His heart, so that He might know how to be compassionate to our infirmities. The body’s wounds betray the secret of the heart and disclose a great mystery of love, the merciful goodness of God Who came from heaven to visit us.” That’s how much He loves us–how much He loves you. And He continuously stands before the Father displaying His unfathomable love for you.
This ongoing prayer is the most important thing in the world, the only thing in the entire universe that carries real weight. It is the prayer of a human being who is God, this God who became human but who returned to his Father to present the universe to him for all eternity. (Andre Louf, Mercy in Weakness)
So when you start thinking, “No one ever prays for me. I’m all alone,” stop and remember “he always lives to make intercession for us” (Heb 7.25)–always lives to make intercession for you.
Witnesses to Hope 