Part 3, Chapter 37
“I wish I would win the lottery, than I would give money to the poor, pay off my mortgage, help my parents out with some expenses and then use the rest for good.” I have had similar sentiments before. I have thought what I would do and how much good I could do with the money. I dreamed and wished that I would win the lottery so that I could help others. It got me stuck in a future that would not happen, unless I got struck by lightning.
We can wish for many things, some good, some evil, but is it good for us? No, especially if it is not attainable. Many times we wish for things that aren’t going to happen. They are useless wishes. “And meanwhile these useless wishes take the place of such as I ought to have, namely, to be patient, resigned, self-denying, obedient, gentle under suffering, which are what God requires of me under the circumstance” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 145). Many times our wishes are meant to be escapes for ourselves, we want to live a different life, this isn’t good because it is focusing ourselves on something that we aren’t and thus we spend energy and time on something that is not going to happen. “I can never think it well for one whose vocation is clear to waste time in wishing for some different manner of life than that which is adapted to his duty, or practices unsuitable to his present position—it is mere idling, and will make him slack in his necessary work” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 145). We need to be focused on what God has given us to do in this time and place and we need not day dream our life away. 
Instead of daydreaming, we need to live in the present moment. So often daydreaming gets us stuck in a future that will never be. What we need to do is ask God to provide the graces we need to live in the now. Yes, we need things physically to help us, but winning the lottery is almost never a good thing. It is true that we need grace too, but we have to be praying and in a relationship with God before we can become devout or even a saint. Don’t just pray that we all will get to heaven; we need to be faithful to God in order for that to happen. “Do not overload your soul with innumerable longings, either worldly, for that were destruction, or even spiritual, for these only burden you” (Introduction to the Devout Life, 146). Life has enough burdens in it, we don’t need to add to them, rather we need to live with God and have His help. Ask Him for the grace that we need today to live out His will. Ask for His holy will to be done in our lives. Truly ask Him that we may live in His Divine Will.