The opening
reading and the Gospel reading for this Sunday present the theme of persevering
in prayer. The first is a scene full of adventure. The Gospel reading is
humorous[1]. The
message is the same. Years ago, Frank Sinatra sang a song called High Hopes, just remember the lyrics:
Just what makes that little old ant
Think he'll move that rubber tree plant
Anyone knows an ant, can't
Move a rubber tree plant
But he's got high hopes, he's got high hopes
He's got high apple pie, in the sky hopes
So any time your gettin' low
'stead of lettin' go
Just remember that ant
Oops there goes another rubber tree plant.
Jesus told his
disciples, pray always without becoming
weary[2].
The widow kept pestering the wicked judge until he gave her a just decision. We
might sing, “Oops, there goes another wicked judge.” Moses kept his arms raised
in prayer until the Israelites won. “Oops, there goes some more Amalekites.”
Perseverance
works! All of life experience tells us, stick-to- it, set the goal and keep at
it. Keep trying, don't give up. Robert Frost published his first poem at age
16, in his high school newspaper. But, he wrote poems for another 23 years
before he sold a single poem. Albert Einstein once said, "I think and
think for months and years. Ninety-nine times, my conclusions are false. The
hundredth time I am right." .
Jesus told his disciples
"pray always without becoming weary." By pestering the judge, the
widow got what she wanted. The Israelites defeated Amalek as long as Moses
prayed. All of life experience tells us, stick-to-it, set the goal and keep at
it.
But, why do we
pray? Why do we pester God with persistent prayer? God knows our needs. We do
not have to tell God what we need! We do not have to keep badgering God until
God meets our needs. God knows our needs and is eager to meet them. So, why
pray?
The most obvious
reason we pray is that Jesus told us to pray. Luke's Gospel records the words
of Christ, Ask, and it will be given to
you. Jesus tells us in John's Gospel, If
you ask for anything in my name, I will do it. In today's gospel Christ
encourages us to pray. We tell God our needs in prayer because Jesus told us
to.
The good news is
that when we pray, something happens. We change. The widow got justice, the
Israelites won. For us, we keep praying, and we become people who pray. We pray
to focus in on God. Prayer forces us from self-reliance to dependence on God.
When we're close to God by prayer, we live a God-centered life.
Jesus says the
most important thing about prayer is to pray
without becoming weary. So we keep raising our arms to God in prayer. We
keep pestering God in prayer. And we are not surprised when we move another
rubber tree plant ■
