“Growing in our perseverance and determination in prayer!”
(Based on Gal 3:1-5 and Lk 11:5-13 – Thursday of the 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)
There was once a man who decided to pray every single day for the conversion of five people.
His name was George Müller, a famous Christian known for his extraordinary life of prayer.
He began praying for these five people in November 1844.
After eighteen months, the first was converted. Müller thanked God and continued praying.
Five years later, the second was converted.
Six years after that, the third.
But two still had not changed.
Years passed. Müller kept praying.
He eventually wrote that he had been praying for these two men for decades.
After almost thirty-six years, they were still not converted.
Yet Müller wrote words that reveal the heart of perseverance: “But I hope in God, I pray on, and look yet for the answer.”
He died in 1898.
And remarkably, the two men were eventually converted…
… one shortly before his funeral
… and the other afterwards.
Müller did not live to see the full answer to his prayer.
He simply refused to stop praying.
And that is one of the hardest lessons of prayer: Faith is not about receiving the answer quickly…
… It is being faithful to knock, even when the door appears closed!
The Gospel of the Day presents before us the theme of Prayer with a special emphasis on perseverance and determination in prayer life.
This aspect of persistence in prayer is told through a parable: A parable of a friend who knocked at the door of his friend at an odd midnight hour…
… seeking for some help.
Prayer invariably points to the notion of Necessity and Dependence in our lives:
A necessity of realizing our limitations…
… and a Dependence on the power of God
A necessity of knowing all things not possible for me…
… and a Dependence on the Grace and strength of God
For a moment, let us get into the shoes of this friend who faced this need of an unexpected traveler in his house…
… and thus ‘forced’ to seek for help…
This man received an unexpected guest…
Probably, it was the end of all the chores of his day…
… and as he was retiring to bed, this traveler came to his house.
His condition was so pitiable that he did not even some morsels of food to be given.
He had the good will…
… but did not have the resources to help.
He had the good intentions…
… but did not have the supplies to assist.
Very often, we ourselves land up into such situations…
Perhaps someone drops in for a coffee, and lays bare their problems…
But we feel totally helpless how to help…
Perhaps we get a letter or a message – informing of some serious crisis
But we feel totally helpless how to help…
Perhaps our close ones undergo some pain – and life becomes hard
But we feel totally helpless how to help…
Perhaps we see many in absolute suffering – and our heart reaches out to them..
But we feel totally helpless how to help…
We ask ourselves: “What can I do?”
There is a strange, sinking sensation…
… a sense of pressure, almost terror: “What shall I say?“
The best you can do is just hope for a quiet moment when you can rush to God, our Great Neighbour and cry out to him, “A friend has come, and I have nothing to set before him.“
As it’s beautifully said: “The best thing a Christian can do, especially in times of crisis is…
… to pray!”
This happens often, doesn’t it?
It is out of such moments of deep necessity that true prayer is born.
It is out of such moments of genuine dependence that true prayer is born.
But that does not mean, that God, our Great neighbour has to be awakened from his slumber or who has to forced to render us help.
The point of the parable is that as a Person who is in necessity and who is dependent, ought to have a great level of patience & perseverance & determination.
In prayer, it often happens that we determine…
… the way
… the time
… the mode
… in which God should answer our requests!
But let us never forget, that, the Great Neighbour, God…
… is also our loving Father.
… is also the One who cares deeply for us.
… is also Someone who wishes the best for us.
In Lk 11: 9, Jesus gives us the exciting verse, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
ASK… SEEK… KNOCK…all these three verbs indicate a continual process and a constant action.
“Keep on asking…keep on seeking…keep on knocking”.
The Lord is a Loving Father…
He does not demand perseverance because of some hard-heartedness..
Rather, He expects perseverance because of His deep and tender Love for us
… and wanting us to not get bogged down by mere material concerns
Instead to SEEK HIM above all in prayer and to make HIM the greatest need of our lives!
St. Teresa of Avila says:
“Provided that we don’t give up, the Lord will guide everything for our benefit!
There is no other remedy for this evil of giving up prayer than to begin again!”
Let we grow in our perseverance and determination in prayer, remembering that…
… “Perseverance in prayer does not change God’s Heart!
It transforms ours, to trust the Father’s Heart!”
God Bless! Live Jesus!
