Think of two prayer requests about the same size, both in accordance with God’s will prayed on two different days maybe even the same prayers or diffetent saints’ prayers.
Why is one granted and not the other?
Why could I be doing wrong one time and not the other?
Or why does it appear one saint’s prayer works and not the other?
While it may seem simple for us to
know that what we are praying for is in accordance with God’s will, often times we just cannot see the big picture.
Just like Monica, sometimes we are praying for what we think must be God’s will because it is a good thing. Unfortunately, because of our fallen world, sometimes God’s will works in ways that don’t make sense to us. For Monica, it made sense that Augustine needed to stay near her and that his going to Rome would result in her losing him and any chance of him becoming Catholic.
To her, this seemed to be God’s will; in her mind, her prayers were in conformity to what seemed to her
must be God’s will. In the end, God’s will prevailed not through what she thought was God’s will was, but rather what God’s will
actually was: Augustine leaving for Rome, and becoming one of the greatest and most well known saints the world has known.
Also consider, that perseverance in prayer is also important. If God granted someone their every prayer, what kind of relationship would that develop? God is not a genie or who grants wishes, or a vending machine that dispenses whatever we have selected as long as we have deposited the requisite amount of prayer currency.
By not granting prayers immediately or answering them exactly in the way we have asked them, God teaches us to
keep praying. Rather than assuming prayer is a waste of time, or that
Better not to pray than to be rejected
we should instead persevere in our prayer, and work to grow in our prayers. Instead of praying like this:
“Lord, please grant me this request, for I know it conforms to Your will…”
perhaps try praying like this:
“Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.
I feel this request of mine is in conformity with Your will, and humbly ask that if it be Your will, that you grant me this request.
If it is not Your will, please grant me the grace to understand what Your will truly is;
and if instead, Your will is for me to remain in darkness as to why You might refuse my request or how my request is not Your will, then please have mercy on me and grant me the grace and wisdom to trust in you alone.
Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
And so that’s something that I struggle with. It would be cool if I say, “Hey, God, fix those other people so thy will be done!” but nothing’s going to happen if I don’t do my part to move things in the right direction to help set things up for other people’s actions. And since I don’t act— other people don’t act, either.