"...[P]ray always without becoming weary," Jesus says to us in today's Gospel, Luke 18: 1-8. The
widow in the parable repeatedly went to the judge in her town asking for "a just decision against her adversary." The judge was unwilling to hear her out but she repeatedly presented her need. Finally he paid attention to her, fearing that she would strike him if he continued ignoring her.
God is not like that unjust judge. He willingly pays attention to our petitions. He sends the Holy Spirit to those of us who ask for the Spirit's help: His counsel, His fortitude, His consolation, His wisdom, His power, His intervention to bring about a good in our lives, in the lives of others and in the world of our day. We may not see that God is at work as a result of our intercessory prayer, but faith tells us that it is so, as it was with Jesus nailed to the cross during the crucifixion, begging that the Father forgive his persecutors (we are those persecutors when we sin against one another and against ourselves). The world we bring to Christ in prayer is always transfigured, made new, transformed from death to new life in Christ Jesus, whether we see the Spirit at work or not. God's redemptive work will not be thwarted by humanity and it is important that we bring that which needs God's intervention to Him in our prayer.
Like the widow, let us repeatedly bring our needs, the needs of our families, the needs of the world into our prayer, pleading that justice become a reality, that wrongs are righted, as they were through Jesus' death on the cross, where sin was destroyed and we were set free of our slavery to sin.
May we realize the freedom God wants to give us day by day, hour by hour and accept His invitation to pray always--being honest with Him about our hopes, our fears, our worries, our frustrations, in short, being real with the Lord, never hesitating to talk to God about anything and everything as we would with our soul mate.
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