When was the last time you asked big things of God?

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A couple of years ago when I was working at a local parish, I went to our chapel to pray and saw a woman praying who was visibly crying and sounded distraught. It was one of those moments where I didn’t know if I should interrupt her prayer time. Should I ask if everything’s okay? Maybe she just needs some alone time? What should I do?

I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit prompting me to go talk to her. She started telling me that she and her husband had been trying to conceive a child for the past eight years with no luck. She was starting to despair, yet holding onto hope that God would bless them.

I asked if she wanted to pray because that’s all the consolation I could give. I couldn’t tell her that God would give them a child because I didn’t know if He would. I couldn’t say, “I know what you’re going through and there’s so much hope,” because I’ve never been in that situation. So I did what I could do; I asked to pray with her.

I remember it being a simple prayer and I asked for the intercession of Saint Anthony of Padua to help this couple conceive a child if it was the Lord’s will. After we prayed, I asked for her name and wrote it down on a piece of paper that I kept in my office until I left that job. I never heard from or saw that woman again.

Fast forward to June 2022, my mom and grandma were at Sunday Mass at our parish and a woman with an adorable two-year-old daughter stopped them on their way out. The woman asked my mom if she was related to me because she was trying to get in touch with me. This woman was the woman I prayed with a couple of years ago and told my mom that after we prayed, she conceived a child and now this child is two years old, and she had been looking for me ever since.

When my mom told me about this conversation, I was stunned because I remembered very clearly praying with her but had no way of following up. I had no idea if she eventually conceived, if it just wasn’t the Lord’s will, or if she experienced the peace that surpasses all understanding. I just knew the Holy Spirit was asking me to step out of my comfort zone, stand with my sister in Christ, and ask for big things. So I obeyed.

When was the last time you asked big things from God? Not just for a parking space near the store door, or to help you find that favorite shirt of yours, but BIG things. Like, to get pregnant, or to be healed from cancer, or for peace where there is anxiety. I’m not the best at asking God for big things because there’s a part of me that’s scared. What if it doesn’t work out like I want or expect? There’s a vulnerability in hoping and asking for big miracles because sometimes the answer is no, and that’s not what we want to hear.

However, when we do step out in faith and know who we approach — a God who is merciful, loving, compassionate, and good — we know that we’re not just approaching Someone who doesn’t know us or our hearts, but Someone who loves us; Someone who wants the best for us. Someone who has a plan.

My prayer for you is that you ask for big things of God and realize God is in the business of miracles and changing lives. He doesn’t just want to move in the little ways, but in the big, move-mountains type of ways.

So let’s be bold and ask big things of God, trusting that whatever the response is, His perfect will is being done.