(by request, my homily from Sunday)
I’d like to talk with you today about praying with open hands.
I’ve seen a lot of baseball games. And I’ve seen a lot of unusual things happen at baseball games. But whether it’s the Springfield Sliders or the St. Louis Cardinals, there’s one thing that I’ve never seen at a ball game. A catcher with closed hands.
Every catcher has their own style. But no matter how they do it, it starts with open hands. So they can grab whatever comes their way. Even if the pitcher throws something they weren’t expecting.
I bring this up, because when it comes to our prayer life, to our faith, a lot of us are praying with closed hands.
We ask God for help. But only if get it the way we think it should. We want it on our terms.
The truth is, we’re not ready to grab whatever God sends our way. We’re praying with closed hands.
We ask God for help. But we can’t see how it could ever happen. We say the words, but we don’t mean them.
The truth is, we don’t really think God will do anything. We’re praying with closed hands.
Which misses the point of today’s Gospel.
The God who rejoices when one sinner repents? This is the God of reckless, unbounded love. The God who leaves the 99 and goes after the one? This is the God of more than enough – whose provision is tamped down, fully-packed, and flowing over.
And you’re thinking, that sounds nice. But you don’t know what I’m dealing with. You don’t know about the addiction I’m struggling with, the financial problems I’ve having, the health issues I’m dealing with, the trouble my marriage is in. I’m too far gone. I’ll be lucky just to survive.
Actually, I know more than you think. And it breaks my heart to see what you’re going through. You are exactly who I pray for every week at Adoration. You are exactly who I will be praying for this week at Fatima.
You may not see a way. But God has not forgotten you.
Whatever you’re going through, God is pouring out everything you need for this moment. Right now. But you’ve got to stop praying with closed hands.
It starts now, with this simple prayer, “God, I don’t see a way. But I know you have a way.”
It may not feel like it right now, but I have seen it too many times in my own life to deny it. And I want to share one of those times with you, something I’ve never told anyone.
You know Liberty Tax Service? The little place that does tax returns, a couple blocks west of here. Remember where it used to be when it first opened over 15 years ago, in that strip mall, where Jackson Hewitt is now?
That was me. I was the original franchisee here in town. Remember how it was only there for two years, and then it closed?
The company had a very ambitious plan for me, opening a new store every year, for a total of 5 stores. The plan was a little too ambitious. I hadn’t got the first one to turn a profit before they said, “okay, time to open number two.” So I did.
With the awful clarity of hindsight, I can tell you that I was in over my head. I needed help. I needed to find an investor so that I could keep up with the rollout schedule until things started to turn a profit.
So I prayed for an investor, I asked God for an investor, and I believed for an investor. I talked it up with everyone I knew. And kept borrowing to keep the doors open until I could get the help that I needed.
I kept praying that God would send me an investor. So I could make it work. I believed for an investor. But help never came.
And after two years and no profits, they pulled my franchise. Now I wasn’t an absentee owner, so when they closed me down, along with all of my employees, I lost my job too.
There I was, with a six-figure debt and nothing but a little part-time teaching work to pay it. I couldn’t even pay my family’s bills, much less all of that debt. It looked like bankruptcy was the only way.
But I kept praying. And I kept believing. Even though it was all gone.
Even though I didn’t know what I was believing for.
I quit praying for anything specific. Hitting bottom will do that to you.
I started trusting God, because that’s all I could do. I started praying “God, I don’t see a way. But I know you have a way.”
It turns out, that’s how I should have been praying all along. With my hands open.
There’s something you need to know about my time in the tax business. That was my deal. I didn’t ask God about it. I did that one on my own. I figured I’ll just do it, and God will bless it. Because that’s how it works, right?
Never doubt that God will help you, if you let Him. But God’s not going to help you keep something that’s not His. Something that’s not part of His will for you.
So I kept praying, “God, I don’t see a way. But I know you have a way.”
And I kept believing that God would make a way. Even if I had no idea what that would look like. I kept praying with my hands open.
Before long, I got a call out of the blue. From the place I had left to go into the tax business. Asking me if I wanted to come back. With a raise. You could have knocked me over with a feather.
My hands were open. And God was on the move. With something that I never dreamed would happen. Now I would be able to pay our bills while we went through bankruptcy.
God had blessed me with enough. I thought that was my rescue. And I was thankful to God to have it.
But God wasn’t done with me. Because God is the God of more than enough.
Not too long after that, I got an email out of the blue. From the place that I taught a few classes for, asking me if I wanted to teach full-time. With the income from both jobs, now I would be able to pay off my debts, without going through bankruptcy.
Those calls and emails out of the blue were no accident. God was pouring out everything I needed for the moment. Like He always does. Because I stopped putting limits on God.
Because I was finally praying with my hands open, I was able to receive what God was pouring out. Tamped down, fully-packed, and flowing over.
It turns out, this is God’s normal. God is the God of more than enough.
God will pour out everything you need for each moment, if you let Him. God will be your more than enough. But you have to pray with your hands open.
That can be hard to do. Because we get comfortable with where we’re at. Even if it’s not really what you want, at least it’s familiar. Which means it’s easy to get stuck, to tell yourself “I don’t want to get my hopes up. That way if it doesn’t happen, I won’t be disappointed.”
That may sound like an emotional insurance policy, a way to protect yourself from getting hurt. But it’s really just a plan to fail. A way to ensure that you will be hurt.
Because if you don’t get your hopes up, I can guarantee that you will be disappointed. Because you’ll be praying with your hands closed. And you won’t be able to receive God’s more than enough.
It’s simple. It starts by praying with your hands open. With this simple prayer,
“God, I don’t see a way. But I know you have a way.”
