The Prodigal Son

The Prodigal Son


In fact, our essential motive for asking God for things should change, so that it will no longer be simply that we want things, but that we are beginning to enter into the joy that God has in giving. God likes giving, and this, in the last analysis, is the foundation for all prayer of petition.

We are not told the end of the story of the prodigal son, but it is surely likely that, as he grew to appreciate his father’s love and generosity, he became more and more confident in asking for tings, not necessarily because he wanted them, but because it made his father happy. So sometimes he might go and ask for something utterly small, a bag of nuts or a new hat, simply to please his father. Peraldus has grasped a fundamental law of God’s creation when he says that “everything is for giving away.” This is why sometimes the saints seem to pray for such ridiculously small things, and even to demand and get miracles, just to satisfy a passing whim.