Even Before I Ask
Dearest Father, Thank You that You always know my needs even before I ask You. As written in the Gospel today.
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But these have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your faith in Him, you may have life (John 20:31 GNBDK) - the rich and satisfying life in Christ. (John 10:10 NLT)
Today's Readings
First Reading: Second Corinthians 11: 1-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 111: 1b-2, 3-4, 7-8
Alleluia: Romans 8: 15bc
Gospel: Matthew 6: 7-15
Reading 1
[1] I wish you would tolerate me, even when I am a bit foolish. Please do!
[2] I am jealous for you, just as God is; you are like a pure virgin whom I have promised in marriage to one man only, Christ himself.
[3] I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ — in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake's clever lies.
[4] For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; and you accept a spirit and a gospel completely different from the Spirit and the gospel you received from us!
[5] I do not think that I am the least bit inferior to those very special so-called “apostles” of yours! [6] Perhaps I am an amateur in speaking, but certainly not in knowledge; we have made this clear to you at all times and in all conditions.
[7] I did not charge you a thing when I preached the Good News of God to you; I humbled myself in order to make you important. Was that wrong of me?
[8] While I was working among you, I was paid by other churches. I was robbing them, so to speak, in order to help you.
[9] And during the time I was with you I did not bother you for help when I needed money; the brothers and sisters who came from Macedonia brought me everything I needed. As in the past, so in the future: I will never be a burden to you!
[10] By Christ's truth in me, I promise that this boast of mine will not be silenced anywhere in all Achaia.
[11] Do I say this because I don't love you? God knows I love you!
Responsorial Psalm
R.(7a) Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart
in the company and assembly of the just.
Great are the works of the LORD,
exquisite in all their delights.
R. Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
Majesty and glory are his work,
and his justice endures forever.
He has won renown for his wondrous deeds;
gracious and merciful is the LORD.
R. Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
The works of his hands are faithful and just;
sure are all his precepts,
Reliable forever and ever,
wrought in truth and equity.
R. Your works, O Lord, are justice and truth.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
You have received a spirit of adoption as sons
through which we cry: Abba! Father!
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
[7] “When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long.
[8] Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him.
[9] This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven: May your holy name be honoured;
[10] may your Kingdom come; may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[11] Give us today the food we need.
[12] Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
[13] Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.’
[14] “If you forgive others the wrongs they have done to you, your Father in heaven will also forgive you.
[15] But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive the wrongs you have done.
Dearest Father,
Thank You that You always know my needs even before I ask You. As written in the Gospel today.
Matthew 6:8 GNBDK
[8] Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him.
This truth has given me a lot of confidence when I was still a baby Christian and growing up in my faith.
It feels good to know that Someone, God, knows exactly my deepest longings, and my current needs, even those I do not know I need yet.
He does for you too. For all of us His children.
This morning while I was in the Blessed Sacrament Adoration chapel where I stay after my prayer walk and spend time with the Lord, (this is where I also write my scripture journal, Scripture Diaries, which I publish in the afternoons), I was with 3 other women who were also praying. Two were mature women, the third one was a grandma.
All of a sudden, the grandma, who was kneeling, collapsed and the three of us rushed to help her.
Thank God she wasn't really unconscious. Her eyes were closed but it was fluttering.
Eventually, a few minutes later, she spoke and told us she has anemia and she often feels dizzy like this, sometimes collapses too.
The other women told her she shouldn't be going out alone.
She then replied that she wanted to go to the Blessed Sacrament and pray but didn't have anyone with her at home so she had to go out alone.
She even planned to still go to the market to buy sweet potato tops so she could boil those and drink the tea to help her with the anemia.
I was set to go to the market for our daily food after my stay at the Blessed Sacrament, so I offered to go and buy her the sweet potato tops.
She was so ecstatic.
I left for the market while the others attended to her. Then I went back to the Blessed Sacrament and gave her the vegetable. She was still there lying on the floor being attended to by the women.
When I was about to go, one of the women offered to bring her back to her home cause she knew where the grandma lived. But the latter refused and said she could go home by herself. She was so thankful to us though and sorry that she disturbed our prayer time.
One of the women who attended to her promised to stay with her until she felt well enough to go and send her home.
Looking back at this incident, I realized that the Lord certainly knew her needs even before she knew it.
Who knew she would collapse at that time? And the chapel was usually deserted at that hour with only me remaining there.
It was really a good thing that she was with people who could help her.
What could have happened if she was alone at home and collapsed then? No one would have been able to help her.
And I was even set to go to the market and easily able to buy her needed vegetable tops instead of her going there when she was clearly worried if she could still be well enough to go to the market.
Also, I realized that what happened was also God providing for what I needed.
This morning at Mass, I was wondering what message God would want me to share in SpeakChrist Diaries today.
I knew I wanted to share my reflection on this verse about God knowing our needs before we ask Him but I didn't have any concrete experience currently regarding this matter.
I usually share about the word of God as I experienced it alive in my life, helping me live the rich and satisfying life in Christ.
But this morning, I couldn't think of anything.
Now He gave me exactly what I needed - a recent experience and proof that God knows exactly the needs of His children who trust in Him, even before we ask Him.
When grandma shared that she was alone so she had to go out alone even with the risk of collapsing from having anemia, the woman attending to her said to us, “What would it be for us when we come to her age?”
I don't know.
That was one of the fears I battled before, knowing I don't have a family of my own even though I live with my extended family.
This verse is a reminder that I'm not alone.
God, my Father, is always with me and He knows all my needs even before I ask Him.
So He knows my present and future needs.
I don't know the future but I know Who holds my future in His loving hands - our Father in Heaven.
So rest in your Father's care, dear child of God.
He knows exactly what you need, your wants too, even before you ask Him.
If you want to have the same assurance of the Father's care and provision for our needs even before we ask Him, live in Christ. Join me in our SpeakChrist RichLife Club. We'll do it together. St. Katharine Drexel, pray for us.
Live the RichLife in Christ today 🤟
My needs are known and met
By my Heavenly Father
Who holds the future in His loving care,
Even before I ask.
Free 🎁 for you.
My needs are known
To my Heavenly Father
Even before I ask.
So in His loving care,
I can just daily bask.
Say Amen! 🙏
Matthew 6:8 GNBDK
[8] Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him.
Now Your Turn
(Questions to ask yourself when scripture journaling)
What verses spoke to me strongly and powerfully from the scripture readings?
What is God saying to me in these verse or verses?
What does God want me to do today?
Journal prompts of the day
Have you shared your desires and needs with your Heavenly Father?
Do you believe your Father knows what you need even before you ask Him?
Will you trust God will take care of your needs, even before you ask Him?
Vivo dives vitae in Christo. Live the RichLife in Christ.
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