Thursday, 12th OCTOBER. Ask, seek, knock. Mendapatkan yg terbaik diwaktu yg paling tepat.

Thursday, 12th OCTOBER
Luke 11:5-13

And he said to them, "Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Jesus can't lie: "every one who asks receives". And 'every one' means everyone. But we need to ask for it. It's not enough to need something; neither is it enough that Jesus knows what we need; it's not even enough that Jesus wants to give us what we need… We need to ask for it.

There is a story of a man who died. As his Guardian Angel was leading him towards the gates of Heaven, the Angel said to him: –'Come! First I have something to show you!' Curious, the man followed him to a huge storehouse that had his name written on a banner over the entrance. There he saw lots of things, material and spiritual, that he would have loved to get when he was on earth. 'This was exactly what I needed before my wedding!', complained the man. 'And that…', he continued saying, '...if I had had that on the day I started working! One after another, in front of him was all that he had needed during his life. He felt frustrated and asked his angel: 'But why? Why didn't you give me these things when I needed them?' The angel looked at him with a bit of disappointment on his face and answered: 'Why? Why didn't you ask for them?'

It would be sad to discover in Heaven that God had some gifts, spiritual and material graces, ready for us but we never got them because we never asked for them. Saints are the people who have asked for more. They were like beggars always asking for everything. They never stopped praying because they knew that God loves giving His children what they need. At any time and in every situation they turned to God for all their needs and from Him they got everything they needed.

Mary, Help of Christians, help me to never stop praying, never give up asking for what I need.

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Commentary of the day :

Symeon the New Theologian (c.949-1022), Greek monk, saint of the Orthodox churches
Hymns, no. 29 (see SC 174, p.315f.)

"How much more will your Father in heaven give to those who ask him?"

Where did you come from? How did you find your way in, I mean,
to the interior of my cell, locked on every side?
How strange it is,
surpassing word or thought.
But that suddenly
you should wholly enter me,
that you should shine out,
letting yourself be seen in luminous form
like the moon when it is full:
this leaves me without any thought at all,
speechless, my God!
I know well that you are he
who came to illuminate
those who are sitting in darkness (Lk 1:79)
and I am stupefied,
I become deprived of sense and words
to see a strange wonder
surpassing all creation, nature, word…

How is it that God is outside the universe
by his essence and nature,
power and glory,
yet also dwells everywhere and in all things
but especially in the saints?
How is it he sets up his tent within them
in a perceptible and substantial way,
he who is totally beyond substance?
How is he contained in their inmost parts
who himself contains all creation?
How does he shine in their hearts,
fleshly and material?
How is it he exists within this person,
how is he outside all things
and himself fills all things?
How is it that, night and day,
he shines without being seen?

Tell me. Is it that man's mind
can conceive all these mysteries
or be able to express them?
Certainly not! Neither an angel
nor an archangel could explain them to you;
they would be incapable of expressing these things with words.
It is God's Spirit, then, who alone understands these mysteries
because he is divine
and who knows them because only he
shares the nature, majesty and eternity
with the Son and the Father.
Therefore it is to those for whom this Spirit brightly shines
and to whom he will be lavishly united
that he will manifest in inexpressible manner
all these things…
It is like a blind man: if he should see
he will first of all see the light
and then, too, all creation in the light, oh wonder!
So whoever has been enlightened
by the Holy Spirit in his soul
at once enters into communion with the light
and beholds the light -
God's light, God in truth
who likewise shows him everything
or, rather, everything God decides,
everything he desires and wishes.
He grants to those he enlightens with his illumination
to see whatever is to be found in the divine light.

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SabdaNya Kamis  12 - 10 - 17

Mal 3 : 13 - 4 : 2a                       

Luk 11 : 5-13

Shalom,
setelah mengajarkan doa yg berkenan dihadapan Allah, Kristus mengajarkan para muridNya untuk terus bertekun dan berharap kepada Tuhan didalam doa. Melalui doa, relasi kita dg Allah akan terjalin dg akrab sehingga kita sadar bahwa Dia tidak pernah jauh dari kehidupan kita.
Ada beberapa hal yg menarik yg disampaikan Kristus, agar kita bukan hanya berdoa dg benar tetapi sikap hati kita dalam berdoapun baik dan benar.

1. Berdoa tidak berarti menggantikan berusaha. Karena itu Kristus  mengatakan agar kita bukan hanya meminta, tetapi juga harus mencari dan mengetuk. Bagian kita adalah berusaha dg sepenuh hati dan menggunakan segala talenta dan karunia Roh yg dipercayakan kepada kita, selebihnya biarkanlah Allah yg Maha Bijaksana yg menentukan.

2. Ketika menginginkan sesuatu, tentu saja kita berharap akan segera dapat memperoleh apa yg kita inginkan. Tetapi Kristus membuka pikiran kita bahwa yg terpenting bukanlah mendapatkan apa yg kita mau, tetapi mendapatkan yg terbaik diwaktu yg paling tepat. Dalam hal inilah kepercayaan kepada Tuhan menjadi sesuatu yg sangat menentukan.
Kristus mengatakan bahwa tidak ada bapa yg akan memberikan ular ketika anaknya meminta ikan, atau memberi kalajengking saat anaknya meminta telur. Akan tetapi karena keterbatasan daya pikir dan seringkali hati dan pikiran sudah dipenuhi dg kedagingan, tanpa kita sadari yg kita minta justru ular dan kalajengking yg sangat berbahaya bagi kita.
Allah yg sangat mengasihi kita dan mengetahui segalanya, tentu tidak akan memberikan permintaan itu, sekalipun mungkin untuk sesaat membuat relasi kita dg Dia menjadi renggang.
Bagi orang yg sungguh percaya kepada Tuhan, saat tidak mendapatkan apa yg diinginkan, mereka tetap bersyukur kepada Tuhan karena percaya bahwa dibalik penolakan itu Allah sedang mempersiapkan hal2 yg lebih indah yg tidak terpikir saat ini. Bukan penolakan yg kita syukuri tetapi kasih Tuhan yg akan mengubah / meluruskan keinginan atau ambisi2 kita yg membuat kita terhindar dari hal2 yg buruk, yg kita syukuri.
Bagi orang yg kurang percaya kepada Tuhan, saat tidak memperoleh apa yg dikehendaki meskipun telah berdoa, menjadi pembenaran bahwa memang sia2 saja beribadah kepada Allah.Tidak ada gunanya bertekun dan menuruti hukum2Nya selain hanya membuat kehilangan kebebasan untuk menikmati dunia semaksimal mungkin (Mal 3:14)

3. Ketika kita menaikkan doa2 permohonan, Kristus berjanji akan memberikan Roh Kudus kepada kita.
Dg Roh Kudus kita diberi petunjuk2 dan bimbingan untuk memperoleh apa yg diinginkan, kalau memang semua akan berakibat baik.
Dg Roh Kudus kita diberi kesabaran untuk tidak 'memaksa' Tuhan masuk kedalam rencana kita, tetapi untuk dapat masuk kedalam rancanganNya yg sempurna.

Yg terpenting didalam berdoa adalah terus membina relasi yg akrab dan mesra dg Dia yg sangat mencintai kita, bukan apakah keinginan kita terpenuhi atau tidak. Dg relasi yg akrab, ketika hari Tuhan datang, saat Dia memanggil kita untuk masuk kedalam keabadian, kita akan dipenuhi dg kebahagiaan karena telah lepas dari dunia dg segala tipu daya yg menyesatkan dan membuat banyak penderitaan.Jiwa dan roh kita akan menjadi seperti anak lembu yg ber jingkrak2 saat lepas dari kandangnya (Mal 4: 2)

Sebaliknya, bagi orang2 yg menolak Allah, Hari Tuhan akan membuat mereka seperti jerami yg terbakar, yg akan membuat mereka  dg segala ambisi, ketamakan dan kebanggaan nya terbakar tidak bersisa (Mal 4: 1). 

Siapakah yg dapat mempertahankan satupun dari segala miliknya untuk tetap melekat pada dirinya, saat kematian datang?

Marilah kita terus berusaha semakin memperkaya kehidupan doa kita, baik doa2 pribadi maupun doa bersama.
Berdoa bukanlah suatu pilihan lain setelah gagal berusaha. Justru sebelum dan setelah berusaha dg seluruh talenta, kita mengawali dan mengakhiri segala aktivitas kita dg berdoa.
Gbu all n hv a blessed Thursday.

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