Why is Persistence needed in Prayers? 為何要恬不知恥地切求？

The Seventeenth Ordinary Sunday, Year C
Theme: Why is Persistence needed in Prayers? 為何要恬不知恥地切求？

The Israelites were a people eager to imitate. For example, during the Age of the Judges, whenever they were attacked by nations in the neighbourhood, God would raise “national heroes” whom they called “Judges” to unite the twelve tribes to fight back. Later after Samuel had retired as the Judge, the Israelites demanded to have a king to lead them, “We too must be like all the nations, with a king to rule us, lead us in warfare, and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:20). This was not a wise request. They forsook God because He was invisible. Rather, they sought after a visible king.

Similarly, in the gospel text today, we read of one of Jesus disciples’ request, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11:1) Probably it was too early for Jesus’ disciples to know that Jesus is the Son of God. Nevertheless, this disciple was actually PRAYING to God! However, like most of us, this disciple was not petitioning to the best of his own interests. He was like an inexperienced housewife buying expensive yet low quality groceries instead of the best buys. John the Baptist was only a forerunner for the Messiah. His teachings could never be on a par with those of Jesus’. Yet, this disciple prayed for it, like what most people do in their prayers, viz. asking for second-class benefits!

As the narrative unfolds, Jesus taught us the shorter Lukan version of the Lord’s Prayer (11:2-4). Then like what He used to do, Jesus told us a parable to encourage us to persist in our prayers, “I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.” (11:8)

I would argue that persistence is NOT necessary for prayers and here are the reasons: First of all, elsewhere when Jesus teaches about prayers, He says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:8) Immediately after that, He teaches the Lord’s Prayer (6:9-13). Now, if our Father already knows, why bother praying and persist in praying? Therefore, there must be something other than simply acquiring what we want when we pray and that something may have nothing to do with persistence!

Secondly, when we persist in asking for lethal things, would God give us? Of course He wouldn’t as it is shown by what Jesus continues to say a few verses below, “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?” (Luke 11:11-12) God would not harm us so as to teach us a lesson. But what if we are praying not for harmful things but for second class benefits, would our persistence make God give us? I would like to point out an unwarranted assumption in this question! This question assumes that we won’t change our requests in our persistence and that we don’t adjust our requests during the course of prayer!

Let me make use of a well-known story to explain why this assumption is unwarranted. It comes from the story of Abraham in the first reading today. At that time, Abraham intended to make his nephew Lot his inheritor because Abraham had no son. Lot was staying in Sodom but God wanted to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of the gravity of their sins (Genesis 18:20). In order to save Lot, Abraham began a series of bargaining with God to intercede for Sodom (18:23-32). Abraham started with fifty righteous people in Sodom. Seeing that God was willing to spare the wicked, Abraham adjusted his requests cautiously to maximize his gain. He made God lower the threshold from 50 to 45, 40, 30, 20 and lastly 10 righteous people! Abraham’s persistence set us a good example. It shows that persistence gives better results because we are able to adjust our target and reach an optimal outcome.

In modern jargon, Abraham was testing God’s bottom line. When he reached ten, Abraham dared not to risk what he had acquired so far. Had he bargained harder, God might be angry with his “greed” and overturned everything or God might tighten His definition of “righteous people” to disqualify all. After all, it is God who inspects and decides whether a person is righteous, “If I find …” (18:26, 28-32) Not only did Abraham show persistence, he showed prudence as well! Some scholars speculate that God’s bottom line is one. Among human beings, there is one indisputably righteous person: Jesus Christ! God intends to reconcile the whole world to Himself in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19). Out of His mercy, the Son of God took flesh to become man. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteous of God in Him.” (5:21) The mystery of Incarnation is truly unfathomable!

Thus, Jesus did not tell this parable to encourage us to be stubborn. Rather, He tells us that God is very patient. He already knows what we need before we pray and that we always ask the wrong things. Though to err is human, the ability to learn and to fine-tune is a human advantage! Thus, the Father gives us an opportunity to persist until we reach through many adjustments, not necessarily the best but the most optimal outcome. It doesn’t matter even if the optimal is of lower quality than the best. In the end, God will be extremely glad to give us the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). “For we do not know how to pray as we ought, the Spirit itself intercedes with inexpressible groanings.” (Romans 8:26)

Brethren! Have faith in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. With persistence, we’ll be able to reach the optimal prayer which the Father is pleased to grant. Thus, Jesus is able to boldly announce an impossible pledge: “And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11:9) With the support of the Holy Spirit, we’ll surely have all our prayers answered.
God bless!
2019 Reflection
Picture Credit: scripturescript.wordpress.com