Obviously, there are many kinds of prayer: praise, thanksgiving, intercession, and petition. We can pray mentally, as well as with our voices. We can meditate and contemplate. We can pray privately on our own or in the company of others. There is both private prayer and the public worship of the Church, which we call liturgy. Each one has its time and place.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks about prayer of petition, asking God for what we need – as opposed to just what we want or what we would like to have. Elsewhere, Jesus has provided the “background” for praying in this way, saying that God will always give good things to those who ask Him.
What are these “good” things? How often do we find ourselves asking for those things which will bring us closer to God? That is a good thing! How often do we find ourselves asking for help to know, love, and serve God better? Do we ever ask for help in reaching a deeper understanding of the Lord’s teachings? The “good” things of which Jesus speaks are, above all, seeking to know what God’s will is for us and finding the strength to carry it out. This involves cooperating with His grace to such an extent that His will becomes our will, so that there is a complete harmonizing of the two.
Food for Thought: When we read today’s parable, we usually think of it in these terms: God is the judge and we are the widow. This means we should persevere in pestering God until we are given what we want. But what happens if we turn that around and say that we are the judge and God is the widow? Are we unjust in some ways? Do we refuse to hear the cries of God’s people, especially the poor, all around us? What happens if we see God as the persistent widow who will not go away? What if it is true that God will keep badgering us, refusing to accept our “no” to love? Is it possible that God will persist until we render a just judgement, until we let the goodness out, until we learn to love?
In the Book of Genesis we are told that we have been made in the image and likeness of God. Perhaps our prayer today could be: “Dear God, Persevering One, make us more like you!”
