Persistence in prayer

A key thing to remember is to choose a type of prayer and also a time and place for prayer that will fit in with our busy lives.

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One of the most frequently asked questions that we might have regarding our spiritual life and faith is that of prayer. In the Gospels, the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray,” and Jesus then gives them (and us) the gift of the prayer, the “Our Father.” With such busy lives and with so many distractions, prayer can appear to be difficult or nearly impossible in so many ways. Yet we know that prayer is very important for us. Just as eating well, keeping hydrated and exercising are important for our physical health, so prayer is vital for our spiritual well-being. If we neglect our prayer, then our spirit will certainly suffer or even decline, just as happens with our bodies when we do not take care of them properly.

There are many forms and types of prayer and there are many different ways that we can pray. A key thing to remember is to choose a type of prayer and also a time and place for prayer that will fit in with our busy lives. This is the wise advice of St. Francis de Sales, writing more than 450 years ago. He points out that we can often make the mistake of trying to pray in a way that just does not fit in with our schedule, our needs or our personality. Then we become discouraged and think that we cannot pray and so give up. He reminds us that the issue is probably not so much that we cannot pray, but that we have tried to pray in a way that does not suit our circumstances and needs.

In the Gospel, Jesus encourages us to pray and to pray with persistence, using the parable of the unjust judge and the woman who persists with her demands for justice. Perhaps Jesus is thinking especially of one of the many forms of prayer: what is often called intercessory or petitionary prayer. The most familiar form of this would be the “Prayers of the Faithful” that we have at Mass each week; when we pray for the church, the world and for all sorts of needs. Most of us also pray this way every day, especially if we have a particular person or thing to pray for: someone who is sick, a worry or crisis, an exam or a job interview.

The “Our Father” is actually an example of this intercessory prayer, too. After acknowledging God’s name as holy and praying for the coming of the Kingdom and that God’s will be done, we then ask for all sorts of things. We ask for our daily bread, for being forgiven and to be able to forgive and not to be put to the test. Therefore, intercessory prayer is a really important form of prayer. As Pope Francis commented, perhaps when we pray in this way, we are not so much pestering God so that He will somehow change His mind, but rather to ask for His help and placing ourselves and what we are praying for in His hands. It is also a prayer of love, especially when we pray for others, because in doing so, we are showing our love and care for them. 

This weekend is also World Mission Sunday. We can think of those many men and women who proclaim the Gospel. Often they do this in very difficult circumstances and they certainly need that persistence in prayer. This weekend we also remember the North American Martyrs who, so close to home, brought the Gospel message to our part of the world. We can only marvel at their courage and faith, remembering that their mission must have been fueled by a strong and persistent prayer life. So too with us. We need to pray and to persist in prayer, even when prayer does not seem to be “working.” 

Over the last few weeks during this month of October, perhaps we can reflect more on prayer and our own prayer life. Sometimes we might decide to go to the gym to get fit again, or to improve our diet so as to live a healthier life. Why not do the same thing with our spiritual life, by renewing and refreshing our prayer life? And, unlike the gym or some new diet, it does not cost us anything, except a few extra moments of time and a little bit more effort. Like the widow in the parable, let us have a healthy dose of persistence in our prayer regimen, too. The benefits will be huge! Finally, let us never forget that we have many people praying for us and praying persistently too: our Blessed Mother, the saints, family, friends and the Church community.