Part 15: Prayer for discernment: Glory Be, Our Father, Hail Mary

Prayer is helpful when you are trying to discern (learn) God’s will about something, especially God’s plan for your state of life, whether you are to be a single person or married, a religious or a priest.

Here is a suggestion for prayers to say daily until God’s will is made clear to you:

Pray the Glory Be, as a reminder that we should not live selfishly for the glory of Me, but rather selflessly for the glory of Thee, that is, of God and neighbor.

Pray the Our Father, as a petition to know God’s will for you, so that you might do God’s will on earth, as the angels and saints do God’s will in heaven.

Pray the Hail Mary, begging for the courage to do God’s will, just as Mary did when she learned that God wanted her to be the mother of Jesus.

There is nothing magic about saying these three prayers, one after the other, every day, to learn God’s will. But the practice may just open your mind and heart to perceive God’s will, and inspire you to say “yes.”

Even just to decide to say these prayers is a big step, because it expresses your acknowledgement that God has a plan for you, and that God’s will is sovereign. It also expresses your desire to know God’s will and your generosity to follow it.

Most people ask: What do I want to do? But followers of Jesus, especially when discerning God’s call to a state of life also ask: What does God want me to be?

This is a worthwhile endeavor, because God’s plan for you – to be single or married, a religious or a priest – is ultimately a plan for your happiness, fulfillment, and how you are to transform the world into the Kingdom of God.

In the end, you should not hold out hope for knowing with 100% certainty what God’s plan is for your life; it’s rare that anyone has that degree of confidence before they follow God’s will.

What you can hope for is moral certainty, which means the limited information currently available to you is sufficient to act in good conscience.

Maybe that is found when people who you trust recommend one course of action, or when no one is counseling against it, or when there are positive indicators pointing to that option, such as a feeling of peace and serenity.

Do you want to know what God wants you to be?