Lk. 18: 1-8
“Some of your greatest blessings come with patience.” (Warren Wiersbe) In today’s gospel, Jesus presents to us the essential attitudes that we need to have in our prayer life. Our prayers should be more than just lip service; they should be about knowing our Abba, developing an intimate relationship with him, and cherishing his presence. In this experience, praying for our various intentions and experiencing their fulfilment is secondary. Often, we priorities the fulfilment of our needs, and we bargain with God that if our deepest desires and intentions are met, we will continue to pray and fulfil our obligations to him. It is true that our prayers for the fulfilment of our various needs show our dependence on the Creator. However, we should not limit our relationship with him to this realm alone. Even when we pray for what we need, we need to have three important attitudes.
The first attitude is patience. Why do we need to wait patiently for the Lord? By being patient in front of the Lord, we honour God’s infinite wisdom, who knows our present, past, and future from the beginning of time. As soon as a child is born, we don’t give the child solid food, but rather liquid or soft food; once the child’s internal organs are mature enough to digest food, we give solid food. Similarly, God knows the appropriate time to grant us the grace that we seek. The parents may not fulfil certain desires of the child because they know that fulfilment of those desires may not help the child’s growth favorably. If all our intentions are not fulfilled, we can be sure it was not because God did not hear or rejected our plea. He knows exactly when to grant us grace and when we are sufficiently prepared to receive it. In today’s first reading, we see the scene of war between the Israelites and the Amalek. When Moses lifts his staff and keeps, they win, and when the hands go down, they experience a loss in their side. Therefore, Aaron and Hur support his hands, and thus Israel cherishes a great victory that day. It is a typical example of Moses’ patience. He could have asked the Lord to grant victory for the Israelites all of a sudden. However, he places himself in great humility before the Lord and, with great patience and perseverance, intercedes before the Lord for the people of Israel. We all need to inculcate this virtue of being patient in our prayer life. Often, we complain to God for the grace that we have not received. At the end of our sojourn, when we stand before the Lord, we may all thank God for not fulfilling certain desires of ours by those whom we thought best for us.
The second attitude that we need to inculcate is perseverance. The gospel passage of the day highlights the perseverance of the widow. We all know that in the Judaic context, widows did not enjoy much social dignity. So this injustice could have been her only hope. That judge was known for his inhuman behaviour. Neither did he respect God nor human beings. Even then, she knocked at his door with perseverance. Can we grow into the attitude of perseverance, knocking on the heart of God without discouragement?
The third attitude that we need to possess is ardent faith in the power of prayer. The widow’s effort changes or transforms the mind of the judge. No powerful man could influence him, but this would turn his mind in favour of her because she believed in the power of her plea. She was not ready to give up on the judge, and the judge reached a stage where he had to take a stand for her. Where we believe in the power of prayer, the impossible becomes possible. Prayer could transform the one who prays and also the one for whom we are praying. Above all, prayer can influence the mind of God. Abraham’s prayer saved Lot’s family. Moses’ plea saved the people of Israel from the wrath of God. As we continue our faith journey, let us inculcate the virtues of patience, perseverance, and ardent trust in the power of prayer.