“Pray always without becoming weary”

The Gospel this Sunday highlights the importance of persistence and perseverance in our prayer.  Pray always.  This statement, while challenging has aways made sense to me.  Spend time with the Lord.  Bring God into your thoughts and decisions throughout the day. Read scripture. Meditate on His word.  Consciously be aware of His presence with you in each moment. While it’s not easy to “pray always”, it makes sense to me.

The part I frequently get tripped up on is the persistence with prayers of petition.  If we keep bothering God enough, he is sure to answer us! To focus on asking someone for something doesn’t seem to be a very loving way to have a relationship.  One week I was frustrated with my lack of understanding prayers of petition and I asked my spiritual director. “God knows everything.  God knows what I need, what I want and all the people I’m praying for. God knows what He’s going to do and what He’s not going to do.  Thus, why is it important to spend the time asking for things in prayer? I would rather just spend time in scripture or meditating.” My spiritual director clarified prayers of petition to me.  He told me that there are things that God will do regardless of if we ask Him.  There are things He won’t do, regardless of if we ask Him.  And there are things He will only do if we ask Him.  Obviously, we don’t know which is which. God wants us to come to Him with our desires, our thoughts, our worries, and our joys.  These prayers also aide OUR relationship with God because we are pouring our hearts out to Him. 

I encourage you (and me) to be like the widow and storm the gates of Heaven with the desires of your heart.  Ask and you shall receive. God is always there and always listening.  Sometimes we need to ask and keep asking in persistent faith.  “Pray always without becoming weary.”