Persistency in Prayer

 In today's Gospel, Luke 11: 5-13, Jesus shares the following story with his disciples: A man approaches his friend in the middle of the night asking for a loaf of bread. His fried refuses, saying that he and his children are in bed. It's kind of like saying: "Stop bothering me. It is midnight! You expect me to get up, disturb my children, to give you a loaf of bread. Go away!" Jesus suggests, though, that if the friend persists, the friend will, because of his persistence, get up and give him what he needs. Jesus then asks us to be persistent in our requests of the Father, as well: "...[A]sk and you will receive; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."   Jesus then asks his disciples: "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? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good  gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

God doesn't/won't ever say to us: "Stop bothering me! It's midnight! For heaven's sake, let me sleep!" It may seem as though God is asleep. And if it seems that way, Jesus says: "Keep bothering His Father and ours! Be persistent!"  Jesus also reminds us of who God is in relationship to us: "If we know how to give good things to those who ask, wouldn't God be far more likely to do so?  Furthermore, Jesus reminds us that His Father, and ours, certainly will be kind in responding to our needs and not give us something that is dangerous to our well-being,   "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?" Our requests will certainly be answered with the good that we need. And at times, we have to live with the mystery of not knowing why our prayer was not answered as we would have liked. Our response then: surrendering to God's will in faith!