Jessel Pradeep Cutinha csc –
Readings: Gal 3:1-5; Lk 11:5-13
Today’s Gospel reading invites us to have a complete trust in the Divine Providence. For this we need to be persistent in prayer. Today Jesus tells us to pray with confidence. The Gospel also tells us that we should keep on praying without ceasing because God never gets tired of our prayers. He enjoys our prayers. We may feel at times our prayers are not answered but Jesus tells us not to lose hope instead keep on asking and knocking at the door because one day, when the time is right God will answer us.
As we know that prayer is communication with God, we should never feel ashamed to pray again and again. In today’s parable the friend who is asking for bread is not ashamed. He is bold enough to trust his friend that he will give him what he asked for. Similarly, if we truly need God, we should go to him not in shame or shyness but with persistent hope and with expectations of God’s grace and love.
Why do we need to be persistent in our prayer? Because God is our loving Father. He is good and knows our needs. He never gets irritated with our prayer but enjoys our conversation with him. Our persistent prayer builds up our relationship with God. We must ask ourselves what our attitude is when we pray. Are we ashamed to ask or do we enjoy praying again and again? Do we believe God is good and delights in answering our prayers?