I Wish

Praying to our heavenly Father

Matthew 6:7-14

Jesus said to his disciples: “In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This is how you are to pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

            If you fortuitously found a genie in a bottle who offered you three wishes, what would you wish for?  In these scenarios people usually ask for loads of money or cars and houses or long life, or for the Razorbacks to win the national championship (because they put a big bet on them). But I want to burst out: “Ask for more wishes!”  Why can’t anyone figure that out??  Do you remember that 1960’s sit-com called, “I Dream of Jeannie”?  In the very first episode, an Air Force captain crashes on a deserted island and finds a bottle with a beautiful genie.  And do you know what he asks for?  He asks for a helicopter to come rescue him so he can go home.  Think about that for a minute: you are on a deserted island, with a beautiful genie who calls you “master,” and you ask for a helicopter.  Really??  If you were in that position, what would you wish for?  I would say, “More wishes!”

             In the gospel today Jesus helps us think about what we should request, not from a genie, but from God.  Jesus knows that sometimes we tend to look at God more like a “genie” than like a Father.  Jesus says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”  And that’s precisely the problem: when we pray, we’re really asking for what we “want” – what we wish for – instead of what we really need.  And when God answers “no” to our prayers, could that not mean that we really don’t “need” those things but they are really something we want or wish?  Every time God says “no” to a prayer it’s a painful but necessary reminder that we’re not dealing with a genie in heaven, but a Father in heaven.  And good fathers don’t give their kids everything they wish for.  Maybe what we “need” the most is to remember that God is our Father who will always take care of us, regardless of whether he says “yes” or “no” to our prayers.  That's our greatest need.  That’s why the Lord’s Prayer, the Our Father, is not a laundry list of our wishes.  We don't pray: "Our Father, who art in heaven, let me win the lottery today, let me never grow old, give me this day a skinny body, and lead me into more and more wishes.”

            Last Saturday, a very thoughtful young man named Trey asked me a question that all thoughtful people ponder sooner or later.  He asked, “Why did God create a world in which there is suffering and sin and pain?”  I replied, “Why do you think he did?”  Trey thought for a moment and said, “I guess so we would have freedom to choose between good and bad, and suffering is the consequences of our sinful choices.”  I said, “That’s a great answer!”  But I added, “It’s also because if there were a better world, wouldn’t God have created that one instead of this one?  And so if God, in all his wisdom and love, chose to create this world, we must already be living in the best possible world.”  In other words, there’s no need to wish for a better world in which there is no sin and suffering or pain, where we're all rich and beautiful and never die, because we’re already living in the best world God could have created.

            But here’s the catch: this world was created by a Father and not by a genie, who doesn’t want his children to be spoiled, but to be saints.  And in this world, if you find yourself on a deserted island with a gorgeous genie and a magic lamp, maybe you, too, should wish for a helicopter.

            Praised be Jesus Christ!