The readings invite us to reflect on prayer. Whether our prayer be praise, contrition, thanksgiving or petition, it always recognises our need for God. In the gospel Jesus instructs us to ask for what we need. He assures us that God is more than willing to give us what we need. However, for this to happen we must turn to God and humbly acknowledge our need.
The most obvious characteristic of prayer depicted in the readings for this Sunday is persistence. Neither Abraham nor the man in the gospel was deterred by any obstacle. They show that it is not so much that we persist in prayer in order to change God’s mind as it is that we persist in order to discover what God’s mind might be.
The salutariness of prayer is often found in the change that it effects in us, not in God. By persevering in genuine prayer we may come to acknowledge that all things are in God’s hands, and that we can rest content to leave them there, trusting that the situation will be cared for as God sees fit. It seems trite to say that God hears all prayer and sometimes the answer is ‘No!’ It is better to say that God respects the freedom of people and will seldom intervene to change the way events unfold. Still, prayer can change the one who prays and also the one for whom the prayer is offered if only human need is recognised and divine solicitude is acknowledged.
© Dianne Bergant CSA, https:www.liturgyhelp.com/calendar/date/2025Jul27/0/RefDiBer