1 Kings 3 7-12 Romans 8:28-30 Matthew 13: 44-52
The main complaints I get from people who do not pray much is that they feel don’t get anything out of it. This Sunday’s readings are helpful in understand why this is so. Solomon was told in a dream that God would grant him any request. This is the first rule of prayer. God initiates. Secondly, Solomon requested that since he was a “mere youth” that he is guided in his actions toward others. Also, he requested that the Lord grant him “an understanding heart” so that he might be able to govern the others. It is clear to me that Solomon’s prayer was not about what he would get out of it but what how the Lord’s blessings could be used for others. Also, Solomon was already a powerful person yet he refers to himself as a “mere youth”. This is another way of saying “I have a lot to learn”. Another reason people don’t get much from prayer is that they lack the humility to enter into relationship with God. Humility is more than the lack of conceit. It defines how we use the life energy that God has given us. As Robert Morneau says, “We all genuflect to someone, something. It may be our own ego, or money, or power, or prestige, or the God who made and sustains us. Humility places us in the arena of truth urging us to kneel and strike our breasts.”
The second reading from Romans has been a source of division for many throughout the history of the Church. The reading is problematic for some because the word predestination is used. Rather than see the reading in an attempt to exclude others I prefer to see it as an example of our attitude as we approach prayer. In prayer we acknowledge that we are predestined to be with God simply because we have come from God. If we are created in God’s image and God is love then prayer is our response to that love. Since we are predestined to relationship then we are compelled to witness to God’s love in our life. That witness is the way we live our lives. Prayer is more than the time we spend in church. Our lives and yes even our work is prayer. The gospel readings tell us of the man whom finds a treasure buried in a filed. He then goes out and sells all that he has and buys the field. How did he find the treasure? Did he stumble upon it? Not at all. The commentators suggest that the man came upon the treasure while diligently doing his work. What was his work? He was a treasure hunter. Each day of his life he worked hard digging in various places for buried treasures left behind by people who had fled their land for one reason or the other. This was his life’s work. Much like today’s financial planners tells us, he was in it for the long run. Such should be our attitude towards prayer.
However, we Westerners have a different definition of long run than our sisters and brothers in the Eastern part of the world. We declare that it takes twenty-one days to make or break a habit. The Eastern teachers advise us to show up every day at dawn for three years and then they will know we are serious about learning. Also, notice that the treasure was not his when he found it. He then had to go and sell everything to buy the field. If your not willing to rearrange your priorities you won’t be content with prayer either. The gift of prayer becomes meaningful when we set our hearts on knowing God and serving others. Let us pray for the Wisdom of Solomon.