What is prayer? It is coming into God’s presence in order to worship and honor Him. It is time spent with the Lord, so we may know and love Him more.
I know most of you have established a personal relationship with the Lord or had an encounter with the Lord one way or another. What way to strengthen that relationship and get to know Him but through constant communication (like the thing you do with your friends).
Heart check, (this is the question our leaders would often ask us) raise your hand if you have encountered difficulties in praying in this time of pandemic. Be honest! What are those difficulties?
- We “don’t have the time.” Prayer is considered as an occupation incompatible with all the other things we have to do.
- We “get distracted.” Concentration becomes really difficult and we easily give up. We are born in the age of distraction.
- We feel ashamed because of our sins
- We feel that God seems distant or deaf to our prayers, we suffered loss/ experience grief
- We encounter spiritual dryness
Personally I had my fair share of struggles with my own prayer time too. This is common to us in our Christian life, prayer is a spiritual battle. Therefore, we must actively do something in order for these obstacles not to cripple our soul. We know that the ability to pray is a grace that comes from the Father but also (it works two way) it requires a determinate and conscious effort on our part to move. So one antidote to these obstacles is persistence.
What is persistence? Persistence is the firm constant course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition. Christian persistence comes from the gift of Fortitude. Fortitude is the virtue to carry on the tasks of God to a successful conclusion even if the task is difficult.
Scripture Study: Matthew 15:21-28
The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”
23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”
25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.
5 minutes to read and meditate.
This is a rich and profound passage but I will unfortunately not discuss all of the things revolving around this passage. I will leave it to you to have separate discussion or better yet a personal study on this one. I will only discuss those which are relevant to the topic. I may call out brothers and sisters from time to time to answer
How does the Canaanite woman show persistence in her prayer? The woman is clear, patient, honest, and true with her prayer “Lord, help me.” “She expresses her need in clear, simple words; she persists, undismayed by obstacles; and she expresses her request in all humility…Our prayer should have the same qualities of faith, trust, perseverance and humility.” Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
The Canaanite woman shows us the lengths she will go for her family.
What can we learn from this story on our prayer life? “Just as Jesus prays to the Father and gives thanks before receiving his gifts, so he teaches us filial boldness: (to pray with a faith that refuses to doubt)
‘Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will.’ all things are possible to him who believes.’ Our Lord is telling us that prayer and faith go together. Lex orandi Lex credendi, means the Law of Prayer is the Law of Faith, in others words as we pray so shall we believe.
I remember one specific prayer I had when I was young – to make my father stop drinking. He was a habitual drinker and would often have the worst temper when he’s drunk and it would terrify me. So I always made it a prayer from then on to make him stop, I prayed for it for many years (gikan gamay hantod nidako nalang ko) and I thought it was a lost cause, but God was not deaf to my prayers to my mom and siblings’ prayers. An incident happened, he was bleeding excessively so we rushed him to the hospital which led us to finding out he has ulcer because of his drinking habits. It was unfortunate but it was used by God to be the answer to our long awaited sigh in prayer. It became a blessing in disguise and now he’s almost one year sober. Praise God! We pray so shall we believe indeed!
Why does God want us to be persistent? God wants us to be persistent in our prayer because He wants us to know what our truest desire should be, which is Him. For God already knows the desires of our heart, but we do not always know the desires of our own heart. Through prayer, the depths of our hearts are revealed. “God listens in a special way to the prayer of those who know how to love, even though at times it may appear that He is deaf to the entreaty.
He wants our faith to become more strong, our hope to become more profound, our love to become more trusting. He wants everyone to have the desire and the humility that the Canaanite woman has.” Saint Augustine described prayer as the stretching of one’s heart. With each prayer our hearts are stretched a bit more and thus capable of being filled with more grace.
St. Monica (the patron saints of mother) persistently prayed and waited for God to move in her son’s life. He prayed for her son St. Augustine for 17 years. When God finally moved, Augustine converted. We don’t always perceive the mystery of God’s will and working, but we need to surrender to his time table and trust that he is always on time.
Why does Jesus seem to be “harsh” to the woman? Jesus knows that the woman desires the healing of her daughter. The woman shows that her prayer is not just about her daughter but rather an expression of her deep trust and faith in Jesus Christ. “By appearing to be harsh he so strengthens the woman’s faith that she deserves exceptional praise: ‘Great is your faith!’
Our own conversation with Christ should be like that: ‘Persevere in prayer. Persevere, even when your efforts seem barren. Prayer is always fruitful’”
If God does not change His mind why should we keep praying with persistence? Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that it is true that we cannot change God’s mind or His Divine Will, however God has set aside a great treasures for us, and all we have to do is ask! Let us never loose heart and asking anything from God. It is true that God’s will is unchanging, for it is perfect and cannot change; our will however is flighty changing from day to day. Prayer helps us to change our mind or rather conform our mind and heart to the Holy Will of God.
What if we pray and pray but nothing happens? What goes alongside persistence is patience. We must remain patient to what God has desired for us. Just because he did not grant our prayer does not mean He did not hear us. “Whether or not we receive that for which we ask, let us ever persevere in prayer; if we receive, we are thankful; if are we refused, we remain patient. For if God refuses anything, it is the same as if He had granted us something. For we know not what is for our benefit, God only knows.” The woman in today’s Gospel is a witness to the fact that something always happens when we pray. Prayer is a deep expression of trust and faith. Had the woman not been granted her request, she still would have expressed her faith in Jesus.
Conclusion:
Saint Augustine once said, “The continued sighs of a desiring and longing heart are sweet music unto Christ”. Our desire is to be forever united with Jesus. We stay united with Jesus here on earth through prayer and the Sacraments. Like the mother in the gospel, we must make sweet music to our Lord by our persistent prayer life.
2 MAIN THINGS WE CAN LEARN TODAY!
Perseverance
Effective praying is like running a marathon. Endurance is the key. What most people fail to realize is that this is a conditional promise. The condition is perseverance. A literal rendering of the Greek text reads, “Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking.”
Commitment
One of the greatest obstacles to perseverance in prayer was evident in the apostles themselves. Jesus said of them, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). To persevere in prayer takes commitment, discipline, and self-sacrifice.
Practical suggestions on how to pray
When – when you decide and commit to establish your personal prayer time, set your when, commit to it revolve your schedule around it – do not treat it as something to be checked off of your daily to do list. If you plan on having your prayer time early, you should make sure that you sleep early in order not to miss that. Or choose the time where you can focus on the Lord
Where – it is also important to set up your where – a place where you can focus on the Lord and not get distracted as much as possible.
On battling distraction – you must bring God into your distraction and ask the grace to resist it. If you find yourself getting distracted, just refocus back to the Lord. Or assess whether that distraction is something you must attend to then ask God for solution.
How – while we have so many ways of praying especially the catholics, like praying the rosary, divine mercy chaplet, lectio divina. I believe we should stick to the form of prayer that we are most comfortable in – of course you are free to explore those many forms of prayer but in order not to get overwhelming, just focus on one on that specific day
Why – we should always anchor everything on the why, why do you think you pray? Is it because you are asking God for a specific gift, prayer or wish? What if those were not given to you right away? Do you delay your prayer because of that too? Our why should be anchored on our goal of building our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Some Practical Implications
1. Prayer is not about us, but about God.
- “…worship is not primarily something we do for ourselves. It is not for our benefit that we worship the Lord – although we do benefit when we come into the presence of God. Nor is worship for [God’s] benefit. God does not feel better after we worship him…. We worship God simply because it is right to do so.”
2. No matter how we feel, we should still pray.
- This follows logically from the first attitude. If our prayer is God-centered and God-directed, then it doesn’t matter how we feel. If our focus is on God, we can pray even if we don’t feel like it.
- We might feel tired, miserable, discouraged, or guilty about our spiritual condition. We might be terribly upset over something, or distracted with many cares and concerns. These don’t excuse us from praying, and from trying our best to pray. We should exert great effort to go beyond how we feel, and focus on who we are praying to.
3. There is a different gauge of “success” in prayer: not feeling-oriented, but goal-oriented (that is, God-oriented).
- In other words, to determine whether you had a “successful” prayer time, ask: Objectively speaking, did I truly give God worship? Did I pay attention to Him, seeking to honor and glorify Him (perhaps even in spite of my feelings otherwise?)
- The criterion for “successful” prayer, “I had a good prayer time”, is whether I was able to give God the glory He deserves. It’s not because you felt so good afterwards. It’s not because you weren’t distracted. If, in the midst of many distractions, you still tried your best to focus on the Lord, then your prayer can still be “successful”.
- This is not to say that our feelings and needs are not important. They are, especially to God. But they are not the most important things.
Conclusion:
Prayer is a privilege and a grace that comes from the Father, we may encounter obstacles along the way but we are called to persevere and rise above it. Persevere amidst all trials. To fight comfort in a discomfort situation Persevere even if things go beyond our means. Because we know that God will reward our perseverance with joy and blessings beyond we can imagine.
1 Thes 5: 16-18 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Saint Augustine described prayer as the stretching of one’s heart. With each prayer our hearts are stretched a bit more and thus capable of being filled with more grace.
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