Readings: 3 John 1:5-8, Ps.111, Luke:18:1-8
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER
Have you truly needed something from a friend who can give it to you but will not? Or have you been in a situation where you needed something from a friend but cannot get it because you can not reach him easily? Such a situation can put one under serious pressure.
Then the question comes to mind: are we going to give up, or persevere in our struggles of waiting or reaching out to him? This kind of disposition is what we experience sometimes when we pray and our requests are yet to be granted.
Little wonder Jesus, in our Gospel passage today, using the parable of the widow and the unjust judge, addresses the issues of faith in difficult times and the need to persevere in prayer. Here Jesus reassures us that God hears our prayers. He tells us that we need to pray continually and never lose heart.
In this parable, Jesus is not comparing God to an unjust judge, but saying that if through perseverance one obtains justice from an unjust judge, how much more will we receive from a good and loving father? For persevering in prayer teaches us that God does not need to be informed of our needs.
The parable also serves to encourage those suffering injustice to continue their struggles and call for justice. We should persist in our complaints, and prayerfully confront unjust authorities in order to effect the change needed for justice to reign.
Thus, Jesus is encouraging us never to lose heart; rather, we should approach God with confidence, persisting until we obtain what we need. We should keep on asking, seeking, and knocking in prayer until we obtain the answer we need.
Dear friends, there are times when we asked, and we received; sought and found; knocked, and it was opened to us. But there were also times when we asked but did not receive, sought but did not find, knocked but the door remained shut.
In such moments, persistence and perseverance in prayer are what we are called to embrace. For they will help us to understand how to trust God knowing that he does not need to be informed of our needs, thereby encouraging us never to lose heart.
This is certainly one of the biggest challenges of our faith today. People are not just patient with God. We want to have everything right now as it is hot. That is why patience, persistence, and perseverance are very difficult virtues for most people today.
LET US PRAY: Almighty God, oftentimes we are not patient with you in our prayers; give us the grace to persevere and be persistent in our prayer life and in every other thing we do in life, especially in our relationship with others. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful weekend
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