Only when I pray is a short series of thought-provoking reflections based loosely around the theme of prayer as found in Luke 11:1-13.

We have two supplementary readings today on the subject of asking and looking. Yes, you are right, asking was yesterday’s topic, but it also links very nicely into today’s subject of looking.

James 1:5

If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it. The Living Bible

Luke 2:42-48

When Jesus was 12 years old, they went up to the feast as usual. After the feast was over, his parents left to go back home. The boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But they were not aware of it. They thought he was somewhere in their group. So, they travelled on for a day. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and friends. They did not find him. So, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courtyard. He was sitting with the teachers. He was listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at how much he understood. They were also amazed at his answers. When his parents saw him, they were amazed. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been worried about you. We have been looking for you everywhere.” NIRV

Have a listen to today’s song, Keep looking.

When I was thinking about today’s main subject, looking, the game of Hide and Seek came to mind. This game involves one or more person hiding and one person looking – it may even involve you asking at some point if you can’t find who you are looking for; “For goodness sake - where are you?” But if you are playing the game properly you must keep looking until you find the one/s you are looking for.

There is also the game we love to play at Easter of hiding eggs in the garden. Who doesn’t love an Easter Egg hunt? Great fun. And isn’t it wonderfully heart-warming to see the kid’s eyes light up as they find their first egg - and then another one… and another one…

Or what about a treasure hunt? Personally, I love a treasure hunt. I love looking for the clues and trying to work out the cryptic messages and to solve riddles all with the promise of “treasure” on successful completion.

It’s not like this with God – He has not hidden anything from us. He is not sitting up there watching us running around looking for something that only He knows where it is. He has not laid out cryptic clues or obscure messages for us to find along the way of life’s journey. But how do we find what we’re looking for?

In our reading from Luke 2:42-48 it became clear to Jesus’ parents that He was missing. Like any parent would, they began frantically looking everywhere for Him as their panic mounted – and with each place they looked discovering Jesus was not there. But here’s the thing, their looking would most definitely have involved asking everyone along the way. Something like, “Have you seen a little boy? He’s only 12, has dark brown hair, brown eyes, about this height. Always smiling. He was wearing…” And eventually after a frantic search someone’s reply would be, “Yeah… there’s a kid in the Temple that fits that description.”

Jesus’ parents knew exactly who [what] they were looking for and they knew the right questions to ask in order to aid their search. In order for us to discover what we are looking for we simply need to know three things.

1 – do we know what we are looking for?

2 – do we know precisely how to ask for help in finding it?

3 – do we know where to look?

What is “it” with each of us as individuals that we are looking for? What is it precisely? The Bible tells us that wisdom, for example, is one thing that is definitely worth finding, but maybe wisdom is not what you are looking for. I’d suggest that if we are looking for something really specific it needs be with appropriate motives and not something that will enhance our lives in a way that we don’t need it enhanced. It must align with developing our faith.

God hasn’t hidden anything from us and nothing is beyond our reach. As our song today says, Nothing is unseen to Me. Darkness? That’s nothing! All is revealed to Me. You do not need light to see. So, keep looking.

And, while we are at it, remember we already know the One of whom we should ask for help in our search. It’s futile to keep looking alone for something when He already knows what it is, and how and where we can find it. If we have identified what we are looking for but still haven’t found it, then, perhaps we are simply looking in the wrong place. Or perhaps we are still looking with a measure of our material eyes instead of our spiritual hearts?

Whatever that is, we need to keep looking until we find it.

May our prayer today be that the Lord will help us in our search to find what it is we seek and to give us the grace, patience and endurance to help us keep looking.