{"id":7281,"date":"2020-06-26T19:10:57","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T19:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/?p=7281"},"modified":"2020-06-26T19:10:57","modified_gmt":"2020-06-26T19:10:57","slug":"as-a-catholic-is-it-okay-to-pray-for-small-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2020\/06\/as-a-catholic-is-it-okay-to-pray-for-small-things.html","title":{"rendered":"As a Catholic Is It Okay to Pray for Small Things?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Growing up Catholic it was definitely implied we shouldn’t necessarily pray for small things.<\/p>\n

Prayers were to be siphoned out intentionally for major requests. A sick parent, financial hardship, or other types of significant anguish. Especially the suffering of others.<\/p>\n

This was the mindset I grew up with.<\/em>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There were rules when it came to talking to God.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We had to determine what was okay to ask for and what wasn’t. The small things were trivial.\u00a0 And someone with a lot of blessings would be selfish to pray for these. The larger things meant we had our Catholic priorities straight. We understood what was important.<\/p>\n

Does it mean I didn’t pray for the small things here and there?<\/p>\n

Sure I did. <\/em><\/p>\n

But it came with a dose of proper Catholic guilt. I didn’t really believe I should be doing it. It felt like a spiritual dare. The apprehensive Catholic school girl in me tossing up a request, while knowing I was doing the wrong thing.<\/p>\n

Mostly, I kept to the major things that were deemed worthy of spiritual requests.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet it troubled me. I felt I should be able to talk to God about anything. I didn’t understand censoring. I didn’t believe there should be a proper way to pray. I believed any conversation with God should be considered a good one.<\/p>\n

One day I asked my uncle the priest if it was wrong to pray for small things.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was used to me pushing spiritual limits.<\/em><\/p>\n

Like the time I prayed to God for a ‘sign’ and then asked Him to show it to me by Friday. In my defense, I was twenty-eight years old and had just lost my mother. I found the cemetery upsetting and I wanted to know she was in heaven and still with me.<\/p>\n

I remember the day I told my uncle.<\/p>\n

“Oh Colleen,” he said. Only you would give God a deadline.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

And then he laughed.<\/p>\n

“It wasn’t for God,” I replied. ” I was afraid I would miss the sign and I wanted to know mom was okay, so I gave a date.”<\/em><\/p>\n

My uncle and I were super close so he knew my heart.<\/p>\n

And I did get my sign by Friday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I asked my uncle if it was okay to pray for small things I couldn’t wait to hear his answer. I was hoping beyond hope I could talk to God openly about anything. It had been exhausting sifting through what was spiritually proper and what wasn’t.<\/p>\n

“Absolutely,” my uncle said. “You can pray to God about anything. It is up to God to decide what prayers will be answered.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

From that point on, I went back to sharing long conversations with God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just as my uncle knew my heart, so does He.<\/p>\n

Therefore, God knows I am strong in my faith, grateful for my blessings, value what is important, understand what is trivial, and comprehend what is major.<\/p>\n

And I am conscious of what is most significant.<\/p>\n

That I am spiritually present.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to talk to God.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I want to pray.<\/em><\/p>\n

Be it large or small.<\/em><\/p>\n

God will decide if He wants to answer me, even when I give Him a deadline.<\/p>\n

I’m contributing pieces on Family Today and Medium. Follow me below. #WomanResurrected<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Medium @ColleenOrme<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow me on Instagram @colleenorme\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook @Colleen Orme National Columnist<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

#WomanResurrected<\/strong><\/p>\n

E-mail: Colleen.Sheehy.Orme@gmail.com<\/p>\n

Photo by Ben White<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up Catholic it was definitely implied we shouldn’t necessarily pray for small things. Prayers were to be siphoned out intentionally for major requests. A sick parent, financial hardship, or other types of significant anguish. Especially the suffering of others. This was the mindset I grew up with. 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