“Pray always without becoming weary”
We have all said once or twice in our lives, “I can’t do this!” We get frustrated, agitated, discouraged, or get caught in despair. Think of a time when you wanted to give up and didn’t. Why didn’t you give up? Was there something or someone that didn’t let you quit? Why? It’s in all of us to keep trying even when we don’t get our way right away. When we were little kids and were learning how to walk, we just did it. We probably fell down several hundred times before we mastered it, but eventually we all learn to walk. We may not remember because we were too young, but it’s engrained in us to keep trying.
It is easy to fail in prayer, ever day in fact. It is difficult to talk to God and to listen to God in a world, in which many voices and sounds are calling our name. Will we preserver?
The widow was not just nagging or had nothing better to do, she had faith and was expressing that faith in the trust that her prayers would be answered. She had full confidence that prayer could move even the hardest of hearts in this judge. Jesus shows that with perseverance in prayer, anything is possible.
What does “fortitude” mean? It is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good.” Perseverance comes from the virtue of fortitude. It helps us resist temptations and trials that come our way. It makes us able to rise above ourselves and be able to give of our selves for a just cause.7
Does this mean we are supposed to nag God with our prayers until we are blue in the face? The definition of “nagging” is that we are pestering or harassing someone. Is God bothered or harassed when His children speak to Him? Of course not. To speak with all sincerity from the heart pleases our Father, and does not harass Him.
Jesus gives the example of the judge not to say that God is like the judge, but that God is the exact opposite of the judge. Jesus is showing us that if this judge who is cold, atheistic, and doesn’t seek justice, imagine how much greater God is who is warm, inviting, welcoming, and wants to hear your voice especially the cry of the poor. We think we are the ones that call on God, but “God calls man first”.8
What if I’m too tired to pray? We need to toughen up. Many times we think we’re “too tired” to do something, but we do it anyway. Why? Think of a time in your life when you pushed beyond what you thought you could do. What or who motivated you to keep going? We must know we have it within ourselves to push beyond what we think we can do. In the first reading, Moses tells Aaron to wage war against their enemy. Moses taking the staff of God kept his hands raised, and as long as he had his hands raised Aaron was winning. When Moses grew tired, Aaron and his army would lose. Moses felt very tired, but kept his hands from falling to his side.9 This is a foreshadowing of Jesus on the Cross. Jesus keeps His arms outstretched on the Cross and therefore we win the battle. If we find ourselves tired we must draw strength from Christ. He is our strength when we are week. It’s okay to be tired from time to time. However, when we feel tired and dragged down that’s when we need to pray more. When we are tired, we should ask others to pray for us. When Moses’ arms were tired, he asked for help and Aaron and Hur helped by holding his arms up.10 Like Moses, we should not be afraid to ask for help when we need it. We can also invoke Our Lady’s intercession, our guardian angel, and all the saints to pray for us. We are never alone in this battle.
How is prayer powerful? Prayer can help you both physically and spiritually. Spiritually, because calling upon the name of God can destroy any temptation the Devil may throw at us. St. Alphonsus Liguori said, that to resist any temptation, all you have to do is pray the names Jesus and Mary. If the temptation continues, continue to invoke their names until Satan is crushed.
In 2002, Time Magazine ran an article about the power of prayer. An organization in 1998 ran a study where they collected a group of Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Buddhists to pray for 20 AIDS patients after only seeing their pictures. After ten weeks, the ones that were prayed for had less severe new illnesses, fewer doctor visits, fewer trips to the hospital, and were generally in better moods.[i]
What if I just give up praying? St. John Vianney said, "Prayer is to our soul what rain is to the soil. Fertilize the soil ever so richly, it will remain barren unless fed by frequent rains." When you truly pray everyday you will have more. In the words of Winston Churchill, “Never never never never give up!” We should never give up on prayer because God never gives up on us. If we give up prayer, we give up communication with God. What would happen if we stop talking to our spouse, or friend? The less we communicate the more we push that push out of our life. Some people we communicate with all day in various ways, in person, via social media, text messaging, etc. These people that we communicate with are a part of our life, and as soon as we stop communication with them or vice versa, they are no longer a part of our life. We must communicate with God in as many ways as we can throughout or day remembering that God is not just a “part” of life, but rather He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
Story – St. Monica (331-387AD)
St. Monica is the mother of the famous Saint Augustine. Her life was all about prayer and perseverance. She was married to a pagan husband who had a violent temper. His mother lived with them and was equally difficult, which proved a constant challenge to St. Monica. Through her patience and prayers, she was able to convert her husband and his mother to the Catholic faith in 370. Her husband died a year later. While her two other sons entered the religious life, her oldest son, St. Augustine, was much more difficult. She prayed for him for 17 years, begging the prayers of priests who, for a while, tried to avoid her because of her persistence at this seemingly hopeless endeavor. One priest did console her by saying, "it is not possible that the son of so many tears should perish." This thought, coupled with a vision she received strengthened her. St. Augustine was eventually baptized by St. Ambrose in 387. St. Monica died later that same year, on the way back to Africa from Rome in the Italian town of Ostia. Through her constant unwavering prayer, she saw her prayers answered before she went to heaven.
7 CCC 1808
8 CCC 2567
9 Exodus 17:9-11
10 Exodus 17:9-11
[i]1 http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,193084,00.html