SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C
Genesis 18:20-32; Psalm 138;
Colossians 2:12-14; Luke 11:1-13
PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER
One of the first things we were taught as children is to pray. It was presented as one thing we can all do. But prayer is something we all do, yet often struggle to understand fully. At times we feel that God is close and listening, at other times we wonder if he even hears us at all. Sadly, sometimes we stop praying altogether.
Through the readings of this Sunday, we are invited to see prayer in a proper perspective; that is, not just a series of supplications, presenting our petitions and needs, but as a way to enter into a deep trusting relationship with our loving and merciful God.
In the first reading, we are presented with the tension between certainty and mystery. At one level, we know God and at the same time we do not. It is a continuation from the beginning of chapter 18, where God is said to appear to Abraham but we read that Abraham saw him as “three men”.
This certainty of the Divine presence and mystery of God as three endures. This tension persisted while Abraham entered into conversation with God. In this deep conversation with God, Abraham took the opportunity to intercede for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were symbols of great moral decadence, corruption and injustice.
Abraham stands before God and dares to negotiate for these people. This dialogue reveals Abraham’s trust in God’s justice and compassion. His prayer is both audacious and humble. Audacious in the sense that he assumes some right to do so owing to the relationship of “deep conversation” and the justice of God (Genesis 18:25). He follows with a humble tone knowing his place as merely God’s servant. We learn here that as children of God we have a right to ask and implore but we must do so humbly. Also, what is important is our relationship with Him first, and not what He can do for us.
Furthermore, by Abraham’s example, we are invited to approach God not with fear of rejection but with trust in God’s justice and mercy. God still hears our prayers, especially those for the poor, sinners and those most in need of spiritual encounter. We are invited to bear all these people on our shoulders in prayer to God. We pray for all the poor and weak in war torn areas and also for those who have been forgotten and have no one to pray for them.
Abraham reminds us that God is open and listens to our questions, our persistence and our hope. Very often He answers but sometimes not in the way we expect. But He answers, yes or no. Yes, when we get what we prayed for. No, when we do not receive it.
Prayer is not just about getting what we want, but its about building a relationship with God, who knows what is good for us. In the gospel, Jesus tells a story of a man who seeks help from his friend at midnight but was refused. But because of his persistence, he was helped. Jesus says, “even if a reluctant neighbour will respond, how much more will God, who loves us deeply hear our prayer”.
The word persistence is the Greek “anaideia” which means “shamelessness” or “boldness”. He encourages us to prayer without fear, without holding back because God is our loving Father and we need not be embarrassed to ask. There are some people in church who do not feel free to express themselves at church in prayer. Jesus calls us to shameless persistence when it comes to our relationship with God and our prayer life. He invites us to ask, seek and to knock, and keep the conversation alive with persistence and faith.
We may give up on a lot of things but we must never give up on prayer because we have a loving and caring Father in heaven, who will give us what is good for us at the right time.
May we never stop asking, seeking and knocking, and May God Almighty answer our prayer for those who are suffering and grant us His peace.
God bless you.
By Rev Fr Delight Carbonu
