A Reflection for the Twenty-seventh Thursday in Atypical Time
Find today’s readings here.
I let you know, if he doesn’t stand up to provide him the loaves due to their friendship, he’ll stand up to provide him whatever he needs due to his persistence.(Lk 11:8)
The takeaway from the readings today seems easy: Don’t waste your prayers on frivolity simply because you might be within the presence of God’s love. God will answer only your most important needs. The religion that brings those prayers to God is stronger than any fleshly relationship on Earth; it just must be persistent.
But what’s persistence, really? When Jesus tells us to be persistent in our prayers to God, is it a matter of frequency so we keep the religion strong? Is a persistent prayer considered one of day by day, quiet self-meditations as an alternative of erratic, half-hearted moments?
That’s actually a part of it. But I do worry about that interpretation leaving way for a narrow-minded view of prayer. That prayer is silent, solitary and focused within the moment and only the moment. It’s where we get the stock phrase of “thoughts and prayers” from public figures each time there’s a high-profile mass shooting, and nothing fundamentally changes to stop the subsequent shooting. Repetition without motion dulls the religion right into a platitude.
God answers us once we meet with him on the extent of affection and generosity that he demands from us.
For a greater reference of persistent prayer, I’m reminded of the childhood classic Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. The protagonist, Billy Coleman, has a burning want to get two hound dogs for hunting, regardless that such dogs are unaffordable. While Billy does pray “from the center” to God to see this wish come to fruition, he does not only pray to God and expect results. He puts the work in by selling things and making enough money to purchase said dogs over the course of two years.
“I assumed of the prayer I had said once I asked God to assist me get two hound pups,” Billy recalls. “I knew He had surely helped, for He had given me the center, courage and determination.”
Though Billy references a distinct—and inaccurate—biblical passage when talking about this point in his life, it’s a superb example of the work that persistent prayer demands when answering our needs.
Once we pray for an end to unjust war in Ukraine, God answers those prayers through us, through our motion and aid. Once we pray for an end to poverty, God answers those prayers through us by reaching out through charity and shelter.
What persistence in prayer means isn’t repetition, but motion upon that prayer. It’s why Jesus tells us to assume giving gifts to our fellow human beings once we open the door to that persistence. God answers us once we meet with him on the extent of affection and generosity that he demands from us.
