Be a child of God! I remember growing up in the ministry, one expression always caught my attention. A young adult leader would ask everyone in the room, “Brothers and sisters, who are we?” With great enthusiasm, we all responded, “Children of God.” Regardless of our age or stage in life, we are always children of God. Today’s Gospel gives us a hint at how we live this out.

Ask, seek, knock¹. These three things were a simple command of Jesus. I recall when I became aware of devotion to the Holy Child, known in our Filipino culture as the Santo Niño.

My grandmother taught me the novena prayers to the divine child. These prayers incorporated the concepts of asking, seeking, and knocking before God. I remember uttering the words often: “O Jesus, who has said, ‘Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you,’ through the intercession of Mary, Your Most Holy Mother, I knock, I seek, and I ask that my prayer be granted.”

To be a child of God, we must be childlike and persevere as we ask, seek, and knock. Never hesitate to ask God for what you need. Children do not process their request before asking a parent. They simply have a need and with persistence they ask. God knows everything and waits for us to ask. I think of it as giving God the joy of being my Father.

The second way we can be children of God is to remember that we have God as our Father. Luke’s version of the Lord’s prayer is more concise than Matthew’s account. Yet, the essence is the same. We pray that God’s name may be hallowed and that God provides us with our daily bread. To pray that God’s name is hallowed is to praise God and love God in every season of life. We pray with the psalmist,

I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth; in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy temple and give thanks to your name.

Secondly, God provides for everything we need each day and gives us our daily sustenance. Again, the words of the psalmist echo in our hearts,

When I called you answered me; you built up strength within me.

If there is one lesson I have learned in the school of prayer it is this. Prayer does not change God. Prayer changes me so that I can love God. Prayer helps me pierce through all the distracting things of life and focus on God who is love.

Be a child today and every day. I think of a quote from Marianne Williamson. I use it often on my retreats with seniors in high school. She states:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? 

You are a child of God … It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

1. Today’s Gospel is from Luke 11:1-13 from the Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C. ↩︎