In the Gospel today, Jesus talks about perseverance in prayer. The
commentary to this passage from the Christian Community Bible says,
Jesus urges us to ask with perseverance and not get tired of asking,
but rather to “tire” God by our persistence. God may not always give
what we ask for, or not in the way we expect since we do not know what
is good for us, but He will surely give us the Holy Spirit to get a
clearer vision of his will and the courage to follow it.
Most of the time we forget what prayer is and so, we tend to get tired
of praying. We sometimes think that when we pray, it is a “once and
for all” thing in our life. We reason out that God knows already what
we need, what we think and what is inside our hearts. Why else do we
pray? We forget that prayer is an experience of God, an interpersonal
relationship, a contact between two persons through mutual presence in
a communication of love. It is not a method to learn but a
relationship to be lived. Since it is relationship, then it has to
grow. It requires communication.
Let us ask ourselves today: What is prayer for us? Why and how do I
pray? Once again, let us listen to Jesus in the Gospel as he exhorts
and invites us to pray. Perhaps we still lack the perseverance because
of the challenges of our daily lives. Let us not forget that prayer
comes from our hearts with the help of the Holy Spirit. A Jesuit
teacher, in speaking about prayer, said that If we don’t know how to
pray, what to pray and don’t feel like praying, the only necessary and
most important thing is to “JUST SHOW UP!” for your time of prayer.
