3.6 Waarom krijg ik geen antwoord als ik bid?
Soms lijkt het alsof God geen antwoord geeft als je bidt. God verhoort echter al onze gebeden, al doet Hij dat wel op zijn eigen manier. Soms bidden we verkeerd, of voor de verkeerde dingen.
Als we ons in alles aan God toevertrouwen, moeten we er ook op vertrouwen dat de uitkomst van ons gebed past in zijn plan. Bidden is vooral een uitdrukken van jouw relatie met God. Je kunt echt op God vertrouwen en er zeker van zijn dat Hij luistert.
What happens if you find that prayer does not help?
Prayer does not seek superficial success but rather the will of God and intimacy with him. God’s apparent silence is itself an invitation to take a step farther—in total devotion, boundless faith, endless expectation. Anyone who prays must allow God the complete freedom to speak whenever he wants, to grant whatever he wants, and to give himself however he wants.
Often we say: I have prayed, but it did not help at all. Maybe we are not praying intensely enough. The saintly Curé of Ars once asked a brother priest who was complaining about his lack of success, “You have prayed, you have sighed … but have you fasted, too? Have you kept vigil?” It could also be that we are asking God for the wrong things. St. Teresa of Avila once said, “Do not pray for lighter burdens; pray for a stronger back.” [Youcat 507]
Ask the Holy Spirit to make his presence felt in your lives. For me, it was my father who in a special way made me aware of the activity of the Holy Spirit, precisely when I was your age. If I found myself in some difficulty, he would suggest that I pray to the Holy Spirit; and this teaching of his has shown me the path which I have followed to this day. I speak to you about this because you are young, as I was then. And I speak to you about it on the basis of many years of life, lived also in difficult times. [Pope John Paul II, Homily to young people, 26 Apr. 1997]
