When we approach the Lord with our needs we should take care that our prayer not be a form of bargaining. God knows our needs before we ask, and it is from our fallen nature that we tend to approach God while trying to bargain with Him. If we want to be healed of an illness that has befallen us, or ask for financial help, we should first ask God for strength and patience to endure whatever He allows to come our way.
The Lord knows what we need, and if we do not receive that which we’ve asked for, we should cease to ask. It is more important that we gain peace of heart, and spiritual strength. The more we learn patience and trust, the more we will have gained in the long run. Rather than persist in hounding God for what we think we need, we should seek first the Kingdom of God.
The best prayer of all is simply to say, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner”, knowing that union with Him is the ultimate goal. Having good health, money, things, or even earthly happiness, must not be the focus of our prayer life.
It is far more beneficial in the long run if we seek inner peace first, and learn to trust God for the rest. He loves us and desires that we come to the knowledge of the Truth and inherit His Kingdom. When we’ve acquired a peaceful and contrite heart, we will seek to keep God’s commandments, and love Him with all our heart. Then we will have a relationship with Him that is based on love rather than infantile bargaining, which can be a form of blackmail.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
