One of my rituals I always look forward to is Girl’s Night out. A group of four of us have been meeting for dinner about once a month for years now. Over the years two of us have gotten married and have kids, one member of our group has been in a steady relationship for a year and one friend is currently single. We love each other like sisters and look forward to this evening with great anticipation.
After we finished dinner and had dessert served my single girlfriend blurted out, “I don’t think God is listening to my prayers.” I immediately dropped my fork forsaking my tiramisu. She continued with a heavy heart, “I’ve been praying and praying. I volunteer, pray for others, go to mass, everything”, exasperation entered her voice, “but I’m still single and can’t seem to meet the right person to share my life with. I just don’t know what to do anymore and I’m afraid I’m losing my faith in my prayers.”
For the next ten minutes I listened intently on the dialogue between all my friends. Words of wisdom, faith, and courage were shared. I silently said a few prayers to find my own words of advice and then suddenly blurted out, “Let it go.” Everyone looked at me with a peculiar look on their face. I repeated again, “I think you need to ‘Let it Go’, a lesson from the movie Frozen. The Queen was paralyzed by fear which she let control her. It wasn’t until she let her fear go that she began her journey to a new life. A life in which she discovered the answer to controlling the power God gave her was always love.”
She began laughing and responded, “Jackie, I’m single. I don’t exactly go to Disney movies.” My first thought was at least I got a laugh out of her. “Ok” I conceded. “I think the point is, you are clearly anxious and scared. God knows your heart, He knows your needs and is always there for you. He is always listening. Praying with fear paralyzes you and you need to let that fear go with total faith in Him.”
It wasn’t an easy lesson to learn but I could see her eyes drifting in reflection. We all continued to share our own experiences with fear. I clearly remember being single and praying with fear that I’d never meet the right person. Fear is normal and part of all our lives. Our prayer life needs to recognize this fear does in fact exist but Our Father’s love will always be greater.
Today’s Gift for Your Soul – Take joy in Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” May the peace of the Lord fill your heart with confidence in your journey.
