More Than We Ask or Imagine

Lion at rest. Image by Kevin Pluck, CC BY 2.0

Welcome to Word for the Week, the series in which I:

share my experience of hearing God’s Word in Mass last weekend,
explore what I believe the Lord is calling me to do about that Word, and
ask how this Word might impact your life, as well.

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On January 1st, the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, David and the kids and I attended a late-morning Mass. The entirety of the Psalm response resonated with me: May God bless us in His mercy. -Psalm 76:2.

I notice there’s no comma in this prayer. If the phrase read, “May God bless us, in His mercy,” then the main request would be for God to bless us, and the part about mercy would be a bonus description. But because the sentence flows uninterrupted, mercy is integral to the prayer. I didn’t realize that at first. I didn’t realize what I was asking for.

Then, on Jan. 6th, I had a major revelation. It welled up from a therapy session earlier in the week. The awakening continued in my heart and mind until I talked through it with a friend at our kitchen island. In a nutshell: I have deep-seated issues with trusting other people. God is making it clear: it’s time to let go of those issues, and to trust the people He has brought into my life to support and love me.

Only later did I remember that January 6th was the Feast of Epiphany.

God is offering me much more mercy than I knew I needed. What the Lord is revealing to me is above and beyond my hopes of healing for this sabbatical. I found myself saying, “I didn’t ask for this!” because, although the mercy is beautiful, the circumstances are embarrassing and seem gratuitous.

I asked to be healed from a twisted relationship with food, not from distrust of others!

But then, I remembered that I’d been praying this Word for the Week: May God bless us in His mercy. So, even though I didn’t think I was asking for it, the Holy Spirit was praying through me, in this scripture passage. I need His mercy right now, a lot. This experience reminds me of the pattern of prayer in Daniel and the Lion’s Den.

Daniel was set up: his enemies knew he prayed daily, so they tricked the King into making a decree to ban prayer. When the plotting men found Daniel again at prayer, they implored the King to follow through on the new law. So Daniel was cast into the den of lions. I’m imagining Daniel’s faithfulness: his prayers and supplications up until that point had prepared him to pray at his greatest moment of need. Even hungry lions were no match for God’s strength through those prayers.

When we persist in prayer, we don’t know the battles and challenges that the Lord will lead us through. But we can trust that the Spirit who prays through us will surround us in His mercy, as our predecessors in faith bore witness.

In closing, I’ll invite you to read through the story of Daniel in the Lion’s Den today. What stands out to you? I’d love to know in the comments.

May God bless us in his mercy. Amen.

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