I hate to write when I am partially annoyed but I need to get these thoughts out so my mind can find peace again. Not too long ago I heard a person say something like “A lot of good praying does, God isn’t answering”. Really? Ever think perhaps you have your answer? Oh, and how much time have you actually devoted to real prayer? Grrr. My knee jerk thought is “you spoiled bratty immature Catholic”!

I often think there are people that treat God like insurance, kind of love/hate. Love to have the big guy looking out for us, following the Lord’s ways as He would like, not so much. Take prayer for example, one of our seminarians, Jacob Schneider, told a group of people at an event to pray. Pray all the time, pray in the morning, pray at night, pray always. I liken what Jacob said to anyone working to develop a skill or talent. I read in a book Michael Jordan had 10,000 hours of practice at basketball well before going pro. Can anyone imagine what Michael’s career would have been with out that 10,000 hours? I doubt he would be a household name. So why would God answering our prayers be any different? Seriously, how can anyone expect to be fully open to God with out following Jacob’s instruction to pray always? The Catholic Church has many teachers in her history giving the same advice yet we do not do it. Then, throw up our hands and make silly remarks such as “a lot of good praying does, God isn’t answering”.

My wife has a saying I deliberately modified (since this is a religious forum), “I gotta put on my big girl britches”. That is exactly what each of has to do. We have to dig in and do the hard work with God, the hard work being trusting Him. Eighty percent of the hard work is letting go of the worries in the world, twenty percent is what we do while in the world. It takes a bit of Spiritual maturity to allow this to happen. Moreover, it takes practice.