Should I be persistent in prayer?
Our Lord is ready to give us the good things we ask for, but he wants us to persevere in prayer. How often he has told us this! He gave us examples of it, such as that of the poor widow demanding justice, or the man knocking on his friend's door late at night.
That sort of holy stubbornness in praying for things is something which shines out in the life of the saints. Souls dedicated to God have always done the same thing. St John Chrysostom says: “When I tell someone, ‘Pray to God for that, ask him, beg him,’ they answer, ‘I've already prayed for it once, twice, three, ten, or twenty times, and got nothing.’ Don't stop, my brother, until you get it; petition ends when you receive what you are asking for. Stop praying for it only when you receive it. Better still, don't even stop then. Until you get it, keep on praying for it; and when you have got it, thank God for it.”
One reason for persevering in prayer is that the more we pray, the closer we come to God; and vice versa. “Those who are nearest to God are the first to be heard. That is why you must get close to God and be intent on becoming a saint."
St Thomas says, “Before addressing a man, you need to be acquainted with him, or at least have some common bond. But when you pray to God you become his friend straight away, because your soul is raised up to him, and you adore him in a spirit of truth. And so, your prayer generates friendship, which in turn opens the way to still more confident prayer. Therefore, when we make our petitions to God, persistence is never out of place. In fact, it actually pleases God. We ‘ought always to pray and not lose heart.’ ‘Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you’."
“We need a lot of God's blessings ... Let's ask for them with our whole soul, with all our faith, each telling our Lord lovingly, alone with him in our hearts: ‘Jesus, we want this...’ St Matthew tells us, ‘if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.’ And there are thousands of us, all asking God for the same thing. What massive certainty we should feel!"
“But we must be praying with confidence, in Jesus' name. When you receive him in the Eucharist every day, tell him: ‘Lord, in your name I ask God the Father for...’ and pray for all that we need in order to serve the Church of God better, and work still more for God's glory: the glory of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; the Holy Trinity, one God.”
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