In today’s Gospel Jesus continues his teaching on prayer. In yesterday’s Gospel Jesus’ disciples ask him to teach them how to pray after Jesus himself had just finished praying. He taught them the words to the “Our Father” although the version in Luke (11:2-4) is slightly shorter than the one we use at Mass which is taken from the Gospel of Matthew (6:9-13).
In yesterday’s Gospel Jesus taught us what words to use in our prayer. We pray as Jesus prayed, addressing God as Father and putting God’s Kingdom and God’s will before everything else. Today Jesus teaches us what attitude we should have in our prayer. In the story of a friend knocking at the door who needs food for a visiting guest Jesus states, “I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.” Some have mistakenly interpreted this to mean that persistence means we need to “nag” God to get what we need. Jesus is really teaching us to pray with trust. If an imperfect friend gives what is needed because of persistence or nagging “how much more” will a perfect and loving God give us what we need. We should pray with trust not with nagging.
Jesus makes this same point in the following example of an imperfect father. If this imperfect father knows how to give good gifts to children, “how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” The point in both examples is the same, if an imperfect friend or an imperfect father gives what is needed how much more the perfect and loving Father in heaven will give us what we need.
Today as we pray to our heavenly Father Jesus invites us to have the same trust that he shows in his own prayer, in his life, and in his death on the cross. Jesus’ last prayer on the cross were the simple words, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Let us pray with the words and the trust of Jesus.
Image: “jesus-praying” by ThiênLong is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.