LIVING IN THE SPIRIT OF PRAYER

PRAYING ALWAYS

 

"Jesus told his disciples a parable abut the necessity for them to pray always without become weary."  (Luke 18:1)   

 

This Gospel, with the story of the persistent widow,  appeared as the daily reading for Saturday, November 15th.   As one might suspect, it prompted many useful thoughts in various commentaries on the daily readings;  here are several:

 

To "pray always" means that we live in the spirit of prayer, which is not difficult.  A thousand things every day can remind us to offer short but meaningful prayers of thanksgiving.  In the quiet of our heart, we can adore our God and express sorrow for our failures.   We are able to seek guidance and strength to face our daily challenges.   Such meaningful communications keep us in touch with our loving Creator.   in the midst of the busyness of life,  I feel drawn to quiet places where silence establishes a good connection to hear the whispering voice of God.    (Fr. James McKarns writing for the LIVING WITH CHRIST missalette.)

 

This parable of the widow seems to imply that God has to be nagged repeatedly to answer our prayer.  I recoil from this notion of prayer and of God.  I was very grateful at a Bible study when the presenter offered a different interpretation.  She said the persistence in prayer is not about God, but about us.

 

Instead of repeatedly worrying, one keeps turning to God,  transforming worry into prayer.  By "the necessity to pray always without becoming weary,"  Jesus meant that we are to pray always so that we do not become overcome with weariness.  By repeatedly entrusting our concern into God's hands,  we will not lose heart.  In a recent time of great crisis,  this kind of repeated prayer helped me greatly to hang on to the truth that I was not alone.  The prayer was a lifeline to trust.    (Patricia Livingston writing in the LIVING FAITH, daily Catholic devotional.)

 

God invites us to pray insistently not because he is unaware of our needs or because he is not listening to us.  On the contrary,  he is always listening and he knows everything about us lovingly.  On our daily journey, especially in times of difficulty, in the battle against the evil that is outside and within us,  the Lord is not far away, he is by our side ... God is our ally, faith in him in our strength and prayer is the expression of this faith. 

 

Pray always, but not in order to convince the Lord by a dint of words!   He knows our needs better than we do!   Indeed,  persevering prayer is the expression of faith in a God who calls us to fight with him every day and at every moment in order to conquer evil with good.    (Pope Francis, speaking at the Angelus, on October 20, 2013  -- referenced in the GIVE US THIS DAY missalette.)