Today’s readings focus our attention of the topic of prayer, in general, and the need to persist in prayer, in particular. And, while we might dwell upon the concept of “being persistent”—the gospel’s image of the widow standing all alone and helpless before the judge as she demanded justice leads us to focus upon persistence—let’s focus today upon Jesus’ words “do not grow weary,” because it is when we grow weary in prayer that we are tempted not to persist. This is a crucial notion because, as our persistence wanes, we gradually turn our backs on God, slowly but surely excluding him from our lives. Then, we trust increasingly in ourselves and ourselves alone. And finally, we hatch various schemes to get what we want and “right now” without considering the coming of God’s kingdom and God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

“Do not grow weary” doesn’t mean “be careful of growing tired.” No, the phrase Jesus uses really means “don’t give in to discouragement.” Is there a time when you found yourself growing increasingly discouraged? Did you begin to lose hope? Did you fail to persist in prayer? Then, did you turn your back on God, trusting solely in yourself and your wiles? Did you find yourself believing that prayer is useless as a tool to improve your lot in life? “Do not grow weary” is directed to people confronting situations just like these.  “Do not grow weary” means “don’t become discouraged.”

This concept of “persisting”—and learning to persist—in practically every human endeavor is very difficult, especially for people like us who are immersed in a culture that places a premium upon getting everything we want and “right now.” We marvel at an athlete’s prowess and grace in motion. It looks so easy that we can dupe ourselves into believing that we should be capable of similar feats and “right now.” We easily become frustrated with our computers when they don’t download information from the Internet as fast as we’d like. We want fast food, cooked to order, and “right now.” We see a commercial and want the advertised product “right now” so much so that we’re willing to pay an exorbitant fee for “overnight, express delivery.” And, forget driving to Blockbuster...it’s too far down the street. We want “video on demand.” Persistence isn’t valued very much by people who live in a culture that places a premium upon getting everything everybody wants and “right now.”

And so, it’s easy for people who live in a “right now” culture to conclude that this should also hold true with prayer. God should give us what we want, the way we want it, and right now. In the past, perhaps someone—maybe a wise grandparent, aunt, or uncle—chided us when we complained that God hasn’t answered our prayers, telling us something like “God’s way isn’t necessarily our way” or “God’s time isn’t necessarily our time.” Evidently, persistence—when it comes to prayer—is virtuous. And, if we are to pray well, we should not grow weary—that is, to give in to discouragement—when what we are praying for doesn’t come “right now.”

To be a person who is persistent in prayer means something much more than simply to persist. If we take the testimony of today’s scripture as our guide, persistence really means having unwavering faith that the object we pray for ultimately will be given...if we but persist and don’t allow discouragement to deter us. In another place in scripture, Jesus tells His disciples that they must continually “seek, knock, and ask.” That’s one of the points to be taken from today’s parable about the widow’s might. But first, we have to be clear about the object of prayer—what it is that we are asking God for—and then, we must develop an appreciation for how our persistence in prayer impacts the lives of other people.

Let’s consider, first, the object of our prayer. Think about it: what is it that we should persist in prayer about? What is it that we should hound God for similar to the widow standing before the judge and demanding justice?

In the Our Father, Jesus teaches His disciples that they should pray that God’s kingdom come and that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The Lord doesn’t instruct His disciples to tell God what His kingdom should be like. Neither does the Lord instruct His disciples to tell God what His will should be. But, isn’t it all too easy to fall into the trap of believing that we’re praying when we’re really telling—or, more subtly—begging God to make things the way we’d like them to be? Imagine what it must be like to be God and to hear nothing all day and all night long but “Oh, Lord, please give me, would you give me, please...”—the focus of prayer being, of course, on ourselves and everything we want and “right now.” Entirely absent is any focus upon God’s kingdom and God’s will being done here on earth—in our families, in our marriages, and in our parish—as it is in heaven. To persist in prayer, then, the object of our prayer must be directed toward the coming of God’s kingdom and God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven and not toward what we want and on our time schedule, meaning “right now.”

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article in Newsweek detailing how, before President Bush made and announced his decision about our nation’s response to the evil acts perpetrated on September 11th, he first gathered twelve of the nation’s religious leaders at the White House. Seating them in a circle around him, the President asked the religious leaders to pray with him, seeking divine guidance and inspiration. The article reported that the President prayed aloud, pouring forth the contents of his mind and heart, his hopes as well as his fears. Then, the President invited by name each of the religious leaders to pray aloud. The article reported that some of the invited clergypersons---and one Roman Catholic Cardinal, in particular—appeared uncomfortable praying in this manner but, in the end, each did. And, after they uttered their prayers—after the nation’s leading clergy emptied the contents of their minds and hearts—it was then that the President felt steeled in his resolve to walk into the House of Representatives and to deliver his message to Congress, the American people, and the world.

News commentators—who previously had belittled the President for being incapable of uttering a polysyllable, much less, to deliver a coherent speech—now called the President “a changed man.” From a perspective informed by scripture, however, President Bush was doing just what Moses had, as today’s first reading related. Moses gathered two of the leading elders so that he could pray and persist in remaining focused upon the coming of God’s kingdom and God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven. But, as Moses’ arms grew weary because God didn’t answer Moses’ prayers “right away,” the elders would support Moses’ arms. In this way, Moses could persist in prayer while other Israelites could dedicate themselves to the task of bringing about God’s kingdom and seeing to it that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

When the coming of God’s kingdom and His will being done is the object of our persistent prayer, it is then possible to understand how our persistence in prayer impacts the lives of other people, just as Moses’ persistence in prayer impacted the lives of the people of ancient Israel and the widow’s persistence impacted the life of the judge.

Think about what this means to those of you who are parents. Do you desire a rich family life, one full of warmth, understanding, and love, one resembling more an episode of Little House on the Prairie than Roseanne? If you do, I’d suggest making prayer the center of your family life and persisting in prayer. For example, why not regularly gather your family in the living room or family room? Then, seated in a circle, invoke God’s presence and pour out the contents of your minds and hearts, raising all of these matters by focusing not on what “I want” and “right now” but rather, on bringing about God’s kingdom and letting God’s will be done in your home as it is in heaven. Invite your children to do the same.

As parents, you’d not only be teaching your children to pray as Jesus taught, but you’d also be inspiring them to focus upon God’s kingdom and His will in their own lives and to persist in prayer. Sure, it might be difficult to pray this way at first—especially for those like the Roman Catholic Cardinal who participated in President Bush’s prayer service—who are not used to praying this way. Perhaps you may feel uncomfortable yourself. But, consider how persisting in prayer not only can change you into being a more faithful person but also inspire the members of your family to grow in mutual love and respect for one another. And, don’t forget, too, to invite your children to support your weary arms as you focus intently upon God’s kingdom and God’s will. “Teach us, Lord, how to pray,” the disciples asked Jesus. Perhaps your kids—especially your teenagers—may not want you to teach them how to pray, but this doesn’t mitigate your divine responsibility to do so.

Think, too, about how this persistence in prayer can impact your lives as spouses united in the Sacrament of Marriage. Rather than wallowing in the realization that the “magic” seems to be waning in your marriage and turning to the magical potions, snake oils, herbal remedies, or Viagara that are recommended on numerous radio advertisements, think instead about making God the center of your marriage by persisting in prayer. What if you and your spouse were to sit down together regularly—if not daily—to invoke God’s presence and then to pour out the content of your minds and hearts, focusing intently upon what God intends your marriage to be? What if you were to talk with one another about what His will is for you as a couple, on earth as it is in heaven? What if you were to hold up one another’s weary arms in persistent prayer that focuses not on yourself, your ambitions, your desires, and your will, but on the coming of God’s kingdom and that His will be done in your marriage? Through persistence in prayer as a couple, God will become the centerpiece of your marriage. Not only will prayer change the quality of your marriage but you will also be changed as a couple and become an inspiration—an outward sign of grace instituted by Christ himself—for the many other couples in our world who are desperately searching for how to make their marriages into sacraments.

And, as members of this parish community, too, what if we supported our pastor and his assistants as they pour out the content of their minds and hearts to inspire us to bring God’s kingdom and His will for us to fruition right here in our own parish? It’s much easier, isn’t it, to be critical—just as kids who don’t pray as Jesus taught are critical of their parents and spouses who don’t pray as Jesus taught are critical of one another—of the pastor and his assistants. It’s more difficult, isn’t it, to give of our time and talent to support the pastor by holding up his weary arms as he and his assistants persist in prayer so that they can lead our parish community into battle—just as Moses led the nation of Israel—against the evil forces of our day. But, that is precisely what a pastor’s vocation is—to shepherd the people God has entrusted to him and to protect them from the wolves. Offering ourselves to hold the pastor’s arms aloft as they grow weary will make all of the difference, right here in our parish.

It is, indeed, very difficult to persist in prayer given all of the distractions that assail us from all sides each and every day. It is very easy, too, to become discouraged when God’s kingdom doesn’t come and God’s will—at least in so far as we define it—isn’t done “right now.” Perhaps this is due, at least in part, because persistence requires me to sacrifice my kingdom and my will in order that God’s kingdom comes and God’s will is done here on earth—in our families, in our marriages, and in our parishes—as it is in heaven.

In today’s gospel, Jesus links the phrases “pray always” and “do not lose heart” so that His disciples will learn to see God present in every moment of their daily lives and never lose heart. Why is this? Because, as Jesus’ disciples persist in prayer, their hearts grow in love of God and neighbor. The disciples’ persistence in prayer also increases their awareness of what they need to be for others if God’s kingdom is to come and His will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

On this World Mission Sunday, as our thoughts turn to all of the good that our generous missionaries have accomplished and what they continue to accomplish overseas today as they preach the Gospel and attend to their peoples’ needs in far away locales, let us not forget that persistence in prayer is our mission here in the domestic church of our homes, our marriages, and our parish.