To Him Be the Glory

You see it everywhere in the Old Testament- “The Lord is kind and merciful.” We all believe it in our minds, but it isn’t something we always believe in our hearts. If we truly believed it, we would approach God in prayer with much more faith and confidence, trusting that He is a good father who answers our prayers and gives to us abundantly. Sadly when we ask God for something, we often do it with so much fear and doubt in our hearts that it becomes difficult to receive what we ask for. Think I’m making this up? James the Apostle wrote:
“But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7).
This is a problem that I struggled with for most of my life. When I was in need I would ask my Heavenly Father for help, but I never really expected to get help (and like James said, I hardly ever received what I asked for). It is only recently, after reading the Bible and renewing my mind that I have come to expect God to answer my prayers. Let me introduce you to my favorite Psalm- Psalm 23. This Psalm taught me about the real nature of God and freed me from a lot of fear and doubt. It gave me assurance that when I pray, God is happy to give to me more than I ask for. I want you to have that assurance as well, so let’s read some Psalms.
Psalm 23 is about how God is the ‘good shepherd’ who takes care of His sheep (that’s us). The first verse is very very powerful and if you haven’t read it before, brace yourself:
“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.”(Ps 23:1)
Wow. Crazy. There is nothing I lack. If the Bible says it, it’s true. You may be wondering, “if there is nothing I lack, why are my relationships strained and broken? Why are my finances looking so bad? Why am I so sick all the time?” It’s hard to swallow in the face of hardship, but if the word of God says we lack nothing, then we lack nothing. God is our fullness. He is everything we need. The other things are secondary and they are nothing compared to Him. We need to come to this appreciation of the gift of Himself that God has given us (especially in the Eucharist). What’s more, He is glad to take care of the other things in our lives!
Think of your Earthly father for a minute. Did he only give you the bare necessities? Or did he give you above and beyond that, just to make you happy? Our Heavenly father loves us infinitely more than our Earthly fathers ever could, and is thrilled to give to us abundantly. Check out what Psalm 23 says about that:
“… my cup overflows. Only goodness and love will pursue me all the days of my life” (Ps 23:5-6)
My cup isn’t just full. It overflows. Not only that, but only goodness and love pursue me all the days of my life. God has given me so much that I have extra, more than I know what to do with. Only good things come from Him, and He is giving them to me all the days of my life. It’s so simple and it’s so life-changing.
Now that I have taken hold of these truths about how kind my Father is to me, I have seen so many of my prayers answered. When I go to ask God for something, you bet I have confidence that He will do it. The best part isn’t getting the things that I pray for. Sure it’s great when He provides me with free food every day, heals my relationships and frees my body from sickness. But the best part is knowing that He loves me in a very personal way. What a good Father! My heart has been joyful ever since I started learning about my Father’s love for me, and I hope that you can experience the same thing. So please, read your Psalms, ask God for good things, and glorify Him no matter what.