The little thing your prayer life may be missing

This morning I spoke with John and Glen on Morning Air about the necessity of asking God for peace with what we have. What’s that mean? Well, it’s more than gratitude: it’s perspective, it’s grounding in reality, it’s learning to love like God. You can listen to the conversation here.

As I have written, gratitude is its own prayer. What we were taking about this morning, though, was less about praying with gratitude, and learning HOW to recognize how good our lives are. If you’re reading this in America, chances are, your life is good. Yes, there are tragedies and heartbreaks, but we always think we need more, when really, we often don’t - we just need to learn to appreciate what we have.

A caller called in and talked about some situations that required her to be thankful for all God gives even in the times he takes away. Her perspective was correct, as hard as it can be: be grateful for the extra year with your dying parent, even though you lost them.

There is a strange, powerful philosophical question here about control. When we thank God even for the darkness we experience, it is a way to let go of our sense of control. I used the example of praying for an enemy: if you really mean it, then you’re free from the ill feelings that bind you to them. Likewise, when thanking God, you’re saying He is in control, because what He says, goes. Not what we say.

I also brought up the saying attributed to Blessed Solanus Casey: “Thank God ahead of time.” That means in every circumstance, thank God. I think of saints who willingly underwent great torment - think of St. Maximilian Kolbe. That is thanking God for the situation you are in. Wow!