If we can receive help from someone who doesn't want to help us, how much more will our heavenly Father either grant our requests (Lk 11:8-9) or give us something even better — more than we can ever ask for or imagine (Eph 3:20). So when we pray, the Lord responds either with "yes" or "no, but I'll give you something better."

For example, we ask for "good things," and He gives us better things, that is, "the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" (Lk 11:13). We often ask for our will to be done, and the Lord often gives us something better — His will to be done. We seek first our pleasure, but the Lord will call us to seek first His kingdom (Mt 6:33). In doing this, all our true needs are given us besides (Mt 6:33). This is much better than only getting our pleasures.

When the Lord doesn't give us what we ask for, we should rejoice because we're getting something better. Yet we don't always appreciate what the Lord thinks is better. He is so great and His gifts so glorious we can take years or even an eternity to begin to appreciate God and His gifts. We find the Lord "too much" for us (Mk 6:3), and often don't understand Him. Therefore, we must walk, live, and pray by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7).

Rescript:  †Reverend Joseph R. Binzer, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 6, 2010

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