The WORD today reminds me how powerful and important it is to be persistent in prayer.
One of my roles in my previous work when I was with IT was to manage and technical support for users of the systems we implemented. Usually, we follow the first come first served policy – we address the concerns based on the time it was reported. In cases wherein there are a lot of concerns, we base it on the importance or criticality of the situation. However there is always an exception – the persistent users. Yung Makukulit. Sometimes, since we know they wont stop, we prioritize them just so they would stop bugging us and following up. This is how we should be in praying.
Persistent prayer is powerful.
In the gospel, Jesus told his disciples to be persistent in prayer. Like the man who initially did not want to get up to help his friend in need but eventually did because of his friend's persistence. Persistent, even if initial reaction is no. Persistent, even if he did not get what he wanted the first time he asked. This is how God wants us to pray. This is the attitude Jesus wants us to have on prayer.
Okay lang maging makulit sa pagdadasal.
We see the importance of a persistent faith and persistence in prayer. God always answers our prayers, and as Jesus said in the gospel, he always has the best intentions for us, so we just have to trust in Him. While we do so, we should be persistent in prayer – even if we think or we feel that God is silent and not answering. We should remind God how badly we want our intentions. And we should have faith that as we pray, God can do anything. He has the power. He can help us. Being persistent in prayer shows we trust him, and we have hope in him. Which means we are living what the psalmist reminds and exhorts us to do - to hope in the Lord.
We may have tough or challenging prayer intentions. Minsan parang impossible na. Minsan parang wala nang magagawa ang Diyos. But just as Jesus taught in the gospel, we may just get what we ask for. If we just pray. And pray. And pray. Kulitin kang ang Diyos sa pagdadasal. At baka pagbigyan ka rin, kung naaayon sa kagustuhan Niya ang pinagdadasal natin. As he continued to say, ask and you shall receive, but always according to his will and purpose.
We are still in a pandemic. We have been praying since last year. However, it seems that nothing is changing. Almost No improvements. Rampant corruption and greed by government officials. Slow response and difficult vaccine process. However, God reminds us today that we should continue to pray. We should continue to have faith. We just need to trust in Him and pray no matter what the situation may be.
What are my concerns right now? What do I pray for? Do I have faith in what I ask of God? Do I know and believe that he is all powerful and all loving? How is God responding to my prayers? How do I react when he does not seem to respond in the way I hope? Do ai get disappointed and stop praying? Do I lose faith in his love and power? Or do ai continue to pray, knowing how powerful and how loving he is?
May God’s silence to our prayers not cause our faith to waver, but may our persistence strengthen our faith in Him. May we learn to be humble to his will, but persistent and unwavering in faith and prayer.
Father God,
Thank you for today. Thank you for another day to live. Thank you for the reminder. Thank you for loving me and for being patient with me. Sorry for the times I am not persistent in prayer. Sorry for stopping or for getting hurt when I don't get what I ask for. Sorry for losing faith in you when you don't immediately answer my prayers. Lord, I ask that you fill me and strengthen my love and my faith to you. I know there are a lot of times my prayers seem to go unanswered, but I ask that you help me remember that I should be open to your answer, that you always answer my prayers, it’s just that sometimes, your answers are different from what I want. As I wait for your answers, may my faith be unwavering and may I always have that persistent faith in you. Mangungulit ako sayo Lord, but I will always submit to your will. I have faith in you. I trust you. Amen.
Blessed Day!
In Christ,
-g-
Ps
See related reflection:
Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary
Lectionary: 464
You have defied me in word, says the LORD,
yet you ask, “What have we spoken against you?”
You have said, “It is vain to serve God,
and what do we profit by keeping his command,
And going about in penitential dress
in awe of the LORD of hosts?
Rather must we call the proud blessed;
for indeed evildoers prosper,
and even tempt God with impunity.”
Then they who fear the LORD spoke with one another,
and the LORD listened attentively;
And a record book was written before him
of those who fear the LORD and trust in his name.
And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts,
my own special possession, on the day I take action.
And I will have compassion on them,
as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
Then you will again see the distinction
between the just and the wicked;
Between the one who serves God,
and the one who does not serve him.
For lo, the day is coming, blazing like an oven,
when all the proud and all evildoers will be stubble,
And the day that is coming will set them on fire,
leaving them neither root nor branch,
says the LORD of hosts.
But for you who fear my name, there will arise
the sun of justice with its healing rays.
R. (Ps 40:5a) Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Blessed the man who follows not
the counsel of the wicked
Nor walks in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the company of the insolent,
But delights in the law of the LORD
and meditates on his law day and night.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
He is like a tree
planted near running water,
That yields its fruit in due season,
and whose leaves never fade.
Whatever he does, prospers.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
Not so the wicked, not so;
they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
For the LORD watches over the way of the just,
but the way of the wicked vanishes.
R. Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Open your hearts, O Lord,
to listen to the words of your Son.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,’
and he says in reply from within,
‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.’
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
“And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?”
