“For everyone who asks receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

Our first reading and our Gospel reading both highlight the importance of coming to God and asking Him for what we desire. Moses is persistent in begging God to spare the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord hears Moses’ request. Similarly, Jesus points out in our Gospel that we are to be persistent in our prayers, to seek, to knock and to ask. God is a good Father and desires to give us good things.

Over the years I have often struggled with prayers of intercession or petition. God knows everything, if He wants to save Sodom and Gomorrah He will. If God wants to heal someone, He will. If God wants my children to be healthy, safe and holy, then it will happen, or it won’t. Prayers of petition seemed to be more about venting or unburdening my worries and anxieties rather than resulting in an effective outcome. As a result, I rarely brought my petitions to the Lord.

My perspective on this changed a few years ago. I was meeting with my Spiritual Director and he asked me how often I shared my concerns or desires with Lord. I explained my thoughts on this. His response changed my prayer going forward. Firstly, he reminded me that venting and unburdening my worries is important to my relationship with God. When I have a strong desire for something to happen or to not happen, it’s important that I share that with God. If I’m really worried about something, it’s important that I’m talking to God about it. This type is prayer is important because it helps me to feel more connected to God and reminds me that He’s fully invested in my life and how I feel.

My Director also told me that there are things that God will do, even if we don’t ask Him. There are things that God will not do, even if we ask Him. And then, there are things that God will ONLY do if we ask Him. We do not know which category our petitions fall into. Thus it is important that we seek, we knock and we ask, because our persistence could make all the difference. I encourage us all to be persistent in our prayer and bring those petitions to the Lord.