But how do we go about acquiring it?
The point of this week’s Gospel reading from Luke couldn’t
be clearer: Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray
always without becoming weary. But
what does that kind of prayer look like?
The parable tells the story of a judge who is approached repeatedly by a
widow who wants him to render a just
decision for her against her adversary. In the end, the judge gives in – why? Because of her persistence – she does not become weary but calls out day and night to the one who can secure justice for her.
But prayer is a complicated bird. We pray, and sometimes our prayers don’t seem
to be answered. Or, like Moses and Aaron
and Hur in our reading from Exodus, we put our faith in tangibles – like the staff of God that Moses raises
during battle, a sign of God’s support.
As Psalm 121 points out, the Israelites’ help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth, a response to
their plea, whence shall help come? Much later, during his own ministry in
Ephesus, the disciple Timothy is also losing heart; Paul tells him to turn to
the Word of God in the form of Scriptures that are capable of giving Timothy wisdom
for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
For engaging with Scripture is itself a form of prayer; it is a
medium through which God speaks to us in an on-going revelation of God’s love.
Is prayer what you do to get what you want, or is it an act
by which you affirm your belief in God’s love and goodness? If in prayer you place yourself in the
presence of divine love, what effect does it have on you? Does your prayer challenge you to anything
new? Prayer, persistent prayer, needs to
be sincere, to come from the depths of our being. If we open to divine love, if we are persistent whether it is convenient or
inconvenient, then divine love will have
something to say to us, because love, more than anything, is what we need. And love is the beautiful fruit of a
relationship grounded in prayer.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: Wordle
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