For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. (John 16.27)
There is a profound message for you and me in today’s scripture. It is the core truth of our faith, and it is this, simply this …… the Father loves me. It’s the kind of deep truth that should cause us to stop what we are doing, to sit quietly and allow this thought to enter deeply into our hearts. The Father loves me.
Why is it so profound? Often I think we imagine God to be this all powerful being, capable not only of creating the universe and the laws that guide it, but of readily bending those laws. And because of that perspective, our prayers to the Father can often call upon that infinite power to bring about the thing we ask for. In some ways, we not only ask for a gift, we tell God exactly what the gift is and when and how it is to be given.
Perhaps with the insight of Gods love for us, our prayer can take a different form? Knowing that the Father loves me, maybe I can bring my concerns to the Father without dictating how they are to be solved? Perhaps I can place them in this loving Father’s care, and just leave them there? Perhaps I can just trust that a loving Father will want the best for me.
It’s not an easy way to pray for us. Because it means we have to let go of our desire for security, our desire for control, and open our hearts to God’s loving presence and action within us. Because it means we have to just trust the Father.
And if the prayer isn’t answered in the way we were expecting, then sometimes we may wonder if our prayer was to no avail, our prayer was wasted. We forget that no prayer, like no act of love, is ever wasted.
No prayer, like no act of love, is ever wasted. Because no matter what we ask for, the true gift of prayer – our Father’s response to our prayer – is always the Father’s love..
gospel reflection – Communion Service