Saturday May 28, 2022

For you this week:

• Reflection for Saturday: How to really, really know the Father loves you
• Inside the Ministry: God says, “Get ready!”
• We have what you need for a stronger prayer life
• From the Good News Media Center: Prayer that Improves Your Connection to God

This week’s Trivia Challenge: “The prayer of a righteous person” does what? And do you know where it’s found in the Bible? (Check your answer at the end of this newsletter.)

Saturday May 28, 2022

Acts 18:23-28
Psalm 47:2-3, 8-10
John 16:23-28
bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052822.cfm
Podcast:
bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/2022-05-28

Saints Calendar:
gnm.org/saints-find/saints-calendar

“Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you…. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete…. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me.” (From Saturday’s Gospel reading)

Reflection for Saturday:
How to really, really know the Father loves you

When you ask for something in prayer, does it feel like you have to make God change his mind about something? “Please, God, heal my friend who has cancer.” As if he didn’t want to do it, but maybe since you asked, he’ll do it anyway.

Let’s dig a little deeper. What I’m really asking you, my friend, is: How strong is your trust? How much do you trust in the Father’s goodness—his goodness toward you? How do you know the Father loves you? After you say “amen,” do you get up from your prayer chair feeling lighter, happier, and joyful because you’ve put the whole matter into the Father’s hands?

This is one of the purposes of my book 30 Days to the Father’s Heart (30daystothefathersheart.com). I hope that by using the spiritual exercises provided in the book, your prayer times will feel like — more than ever before — an exchange of love between you and the Father.

What matters most is the time spent in prayer, not what you prayed for. Is it quality time? Like you’re sitting on your Divine Daddy’s lap, and you really don’t want this time to end. 

When I was a teenager, I sometimes wrote notes to my parents and left them on their bed pillows. I did this after an argument had left me feeling unheard or misunderstood. When I failed to get my point across with spoken words, I put them into writing. This sometimes had good results. My parents read these notes after the heat of the moment had passed; they sought me out to discuss it further and calmly.

This was like a prayer request that included an exchange of love. In contrast, my love letters to Ralph were like love exchanges that sometimes included requests.

Have you ever written a love letter to Father God? Prayer is not so much a conversation with God as it is an exchange of love. Much can happen in our prayer requests that have no words. It’s the language of the heart. In his tremendous love for us, Abba-Father’s heart mingles with our hearts, placing within us his desires, which we in turn offer to him as prayer requests—often without realizing that he placed the desire within us in the first place.

How do you know the Father loves you? When a bad situation is worrying you, how do you pray about it? Worry is a red flag warning us that there are triggers that we still need to dismantle. Are you worried that the situation might never end or that it will end badly? This happens when we do not fully trust God. Are you worried that God doesn’t care, doesn’t listen to you, or is waiting for you to reach sainthood? This, too, happens because we don’t fully trust God.

Saint Marie Therese Couderc (1805-1885) said: “God always gives more than we ask.”

Do you suppose that God is withholding anything good from you? Why would he do that? Is it because you’re not doing everything the way he says you should? That would be like saying he refuses to be good to you until you’re good. Do you see how silly that is? You’ll never be good enough, but so what! It’s quite impossible for God to be “not good.” Ever. Not for any reason.

We limit the size of our faith by projecting onto God the imperfections that we’ve witnessed in the humans around us. However, because no one—not even the best of parents—can be God for us, we yearn to be fathered by him, and at the same time we have a hard time seeing him as more than what we have witnessed in others.

Furthermore, fatherhood has been severely undermined in society. And this has diluted people’s understanding of the True God. The world today desperately needs to be converted to Christ, but our power as Christians to change the world for Christ is weakened by our own distrust in God the Father.

This reflection is an excerpt from 30 Days to the Heart of the Father. I wrote this book to help you experience the wonderfulness of the True Father so that your faith can be set free to reach its full potential. It’s an inspirational guide to healing that will enable you to experience God the Father as he truly is, using scriptures, true life stories, and theological reflection. In it, we’ll identify and overcome the most common misconceptions that interfere with faith in God.

Get your copy now and end your faith-limiting misconceptions about how Father God feels about you! Do you know people who are suffering from father wounds? Buy copies for them too — giving them the True Father is the best gift ever. Go to 30daystothefathersheart.com.

Inside the Ministry: God says, “Get ready!”

During my morning prayers, I like to ask Abba Father, “What’s on Your heart today? What is it do You want me to know?” Lately, he has repeatedly replied, “Get ready.”

I ask, “Get ready for what? And how should we get ready?”

He replies, “Press in on Me harder.”

I’ve been seeing this message and hearing this dialogue all over the place. For example, in my husband’s hospitalization; last weekend he was in the hospital for a second time, in this case for an infection in his colon. Tests revealed that a large part of his spleen had died due to dangerously low hemoglobin, a condition that was surgically taken care of back in April. A poorly pumping heart, due to A-Fib and a bad valve, contributed to the infection. Prayers for healing don’t seem to be effective. Why does Ralph need to go through so much?

Abba says, “I am making you both ready. Get ready. Become much better at pressing in on Me. Press in on Me harder — more than you ever have before.”

Also — in praying about how far and wide evil has been infecting our world and even our Church, I’ve been wondering when God will finally intervene with a Great Illumination for those who are open to following Christ and the Great Warning for those who have hard hearts. 

Abba says, “Fear not. The devil is already losing but things will have to get worse in order for the world and the Church to reach the Great Turnaround. Evil is always destructive, and the kingdom of evil is destroying itself. Watch as the demonic kingdom implodes, and rejoice as you see it happening because it means the end of this evil time is near. Get ready. Do not be afraid but lean on Me harder. Press in on Me more than ever before.”

In praying to become a normal Christian like what we see in the book of Acts, and in praying for the whole Church to come fully alive and active in the Holy Spirit, manifesting signs and wonders that will convert non-believers, I ask, “Why does the Church remain so impotent? Why are You delaying the new Pentecost that this world so greatly needs today — the new Pentecost that so many modern-day prophets and so many apparitions of the Blessed Mother have been foretelling?”

Abba says, “I am waiting for many more people to press in on Me harder and to completely submit themselves to Me.”

It’s happening on all levels, in every aspect of society, politics, the Church, and our families. It reminds me of stories of the Old Testament: The whole nation of Israel suffered because of the sins of a few. In our personal lives, we are experiencing a microcosm of the whole world.

Get ready. Fear nothing because you are leaning on the Lord more than ever before. How do you know the Father loves you? Because he is with you in the midst of your fears.

(In next week’s edition of this newsletter, I’ll tell you about the miracles Ralph received in the hospital.)

This week’s recommended faith-builders:
We have what you need for a stronger prayer life

Did you know we have a good-size collection of Catholic prayers on our website? They’re written and chosen for your everyday needs, trials, and situations. They will give you hope and a stronger connection to God’s love and support.

There are prayers for everyday life, prayers for victory over evil, and prayers specifically for parents. And be sure to tell us how we can pray for you! You’ll find Post-a-Prayer in this online prayer room.

Take a look! Visit gnm.org/prayers.

Prayer that Improves Your Connection to God

How intentional are your prayers? Do you pay attention, in other words, to the words that you pray? Especially during the words of prayers that we say over and over again. How we pray can mislead our subconscious into wrong assumptions about God. This affects our prayer life, our faith, and our personal connection to God. Here’s what you can do about it!

Watch the video @ gnm-media.org/prayer-improves-connection-to-god. You can also download the transcript at this link.

Answer to this week’s Trivia Challenge:
The prayer of a righteous person avails much. Another translation: The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)

God bless you!

Every morning, I lift up in prayer everyone who helps Good News Ministries in any way (donors, volunteers, prayer supporters, etc.) and all the prayer requests posted on our site. What can I cover in prayer for you? Post your prayer request.

How else can the team and I serve you today? Visit our homepage.

Let’s connect in GNM’s own SmartCatholics community, called Good News Faith Builders. I’m available to interact with you there.

Thank you for reading this newsletter.

Your servant in Christ,
Terry Modica, Executive Director
Good News Ministries
gnm.org

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