Persistence Pays

𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐆𝐞𝐧 𝟏𝟖:𝟐𝟎-𝟑𝟐

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟑𝟖:𝟏-𝟖 “𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩; 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞.”

𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐂𝐨𝐥 𝟐:𝟏𝟐-𝟏𝟒

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟏𝟏:𝟏-𝟏𝟑

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚” (𝒗.1) 

         In reading through the Gospel passage today, it is best that you be honest with yourself and ask: Have you really ever longed to learn to pray – really pray in the way Jesus taught his first disciples? Was there a time that you longed and hungered for a prayer relationship with God? Have you ever found yourself asking God to teach you to pray because you just don’t know where to begin and what to pray for?

         And if you do pray, perhaps you may also want to examine yourself where you are now in your prayer relationship with God. How is your prayer life? How often do you go to God in prayer? Do you feel the presence of God when you pray? Amidst the distractions in the world today, do you persevere in prayer?

         Today’s Gospel is a short four-verse teaching of Jesus on prayer, but its importance cannot be overemphasized as prayer can be likened to a key that unlocks the heart of God.

         People can spend a lifetime talking about prayer and not see the end of it. Why? Because prayer is at the heart of every Christian and no disciple can ever expect to go through life without prayer. As Mary found 𝒕𝒉𝒆 “𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅” (𝑳𝒌 10:42) when she sat at the feet of Jesus, prayer is also the “one thing” that we will all need to get connected with Our God.

         In the Gospel Jesus was again praying in a certain place as he normally does after a hectic day and before he rests for the night wherever that might be. When Jesus and his disciples spend the night before reaching the next town, he would always try to look for a secluded place where he could pray. If he happened to be in whatever town he was teaching, Jesus would always find a place to pray.

         And in this instance when he stopped praying, one of his disciples said to Jesus: “𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒔.” (𝒗.1) This disciple definitely knew what he was saying because it was customary for Rabbis to teach their disciples even a simple prayer and John the Baptist had done this for his disciples.

         But this time, the disciple did not just want to know how to pray because his request to Jesus was interpreted by many religious scholars as a desire to pray like Jesus because the disciples see a connectedness to God in the way Jesus prays.

         This is the whole point of this Gospel today because prayer is our lifeline to God. Prayer establishes a connection with God and it’s like there is an imaginary path that we can tread leading to the Kingdom of God. Prayer is in fact entering into a conversation with God.

          As when we are in a conversation with someone, like a relative, a good friend and, a loved one for that matter, there is in us a tendency to forget everything else as we seem oblivious to what is going on around us and this is what we should do when we talk to God.

         As prayer is an elevation of our hearts to God, we must find a way that will allow us to direct all the powers of our souls to God. The mere thought of God is not a prayer because the devil also thinks of God but they do not pray to Him. So, when we pray, we must use our understanding because we must think of Him in prayer. We must use our memory because we must forget our worldly concerns and we are to use our affections because we must take delight in Him when we pray.

         Though Luke has a shorter version of the Lord’s Prayer compared to that in 𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒕 6:9-13, it is by no means insignificant as we should not be so concerned as to which of the two versions is right or more appropriate. The 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 (𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫) has been described by the 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 (𝐂𝐂𝐂𝟐𝟕𝟔𝟏) as the “𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥.”        

         Thus, 𝑺𝒕. 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 “𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑪𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑯𝒊𝒎, 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚.”        

         While there is also no doubt that we can obtain all things from God through prayer, we must also be resigned to God’s will: “𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆.” (𝑳𝒌 22:42) We must all remember that our prayers are never in vain, but the time and manner of its fulfillment lie in the hands of God which means that everything depends upon the will of God.

         And when Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he made forgiveness as the cornerstone of their relationship with God. As God has forgiven our sins, we too are also obliged to forgive those who may have wronged us without conditions. To persist in unforgiveness only shows that we do not understand that we ourselves need to be forgiven.

         It is by means of prayer that sinners are justified because prayer earns for sinners the graces of contrition and amendment and prayer enables the just to continue in a state of grace because prayer is a safeguard against temptation and sin. Prayer is an antidote to the poison of temptation.

         As 𝑺𝒕. 𝑨𝒍𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒔 once said: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍; 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅.” Thus, failure to pray is the first step to unbelief and, eventually to hell. 𝑺𝒕. 𝑱𝒐𝒉𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒚𝒔𝒐𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒎 also stresses: “𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍𝒔” and prayer unites the created with His Creator.

         Persistence is also what we see in the Gospel today and this is defined in the dictionary as perseverance, constancy, staying power, pertinacity, tenacity, tenaciousness, doggedness, indefatigability, boldness and relentless. There are other words that describe what persistence is but what is enumerated here more or less provides us an idea of what it means.

         Of these words, what I like in particular are the words tenaciousness, doggedness, boldness and relentless since these words aptly describe the action of the man in this parable who went to his friend and neighbor to ask for bread in the middle of the night because a friend of his who was on a journey stopped over his house and he was caught unprepared.

         This parable was not just about persistent prayer which is our common understanding of this parable, but this Gospel is also about us particularly in the way we relate to our neighbor, and we might again ask “𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘣𝘰𝘳?” Well, anyone who is in need is our neighbor and in this parable the man who was traveling and who dropped in unannounced fell into the category of what a neighbor was.

         This parable shows that if the boldness of the man could propel his neighbor “𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒔,” (𝒗.8) how much more hospitable can God be who is sure to give us what we need. But such generosity on the part of God is conditioned on the level of trust and confidence that we have in God.

         And in this parable, God raised the bar even higher because what he is prepared to give us is none other than the Holy Spirit who will not only shower us with his many different gifts but will “…𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒐 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍"
𝑹𝒐𝒎 8:26-27 (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘺 27, 2025)