In St. Matthew’s Gospel we are presented with the story of a boy possessed by a demon. His father approached the Lord Jesus and said “I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” The Lord Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy. The Apostles probably in embarrassment asked the Lord Jesus as to why they could not heal him. The Lord Jesus said: “Because you have so little faith…, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you.”

In the Gospel proclamation we are reminded of the importance of praying continually and persevering until we see God’s will in our situations. When we realise the will of God and his plan in our lives, we will be blessed with love, joy and peace deep within ourselves. In this parable it is mentioned that the ‘helpless’ widow with difficulty, and with no indication of success is pleading with a judge who is notorious for ignoring his people. But the widow’s endurance and perseverance yield results for her.

How do we face our struggles in our day-to-day life? How do we fight our battles? What do we do when things do not go the way we planned? What do we do when there is none to help us? Often, we get entangled with worldly trends and flows. We easily get influenced by people around us. We get influenced by negative media that is free for everyone now. What is becoming more real for us is the world. What we see, what we can touch with our hands and what we can smell from our nostrils. In the presence of these worldly and temporary sources we have, we tend to underestimate the power of prayer.

The Lord Jesus invites us to pray continually and to not lose heart. It is a clear statement that we should pray whenever and wherever we are. There are no exception clauses. Prayer does not always have to be out loud but it could also be silent communication with the Lord. Prayer should be like breathing. If we do not breathe, we suffocate. Similarly, we are to pray at all times lest we “suffocate spiritually”.

Prayer: Abba Father, may we continually and consistently seek your face. Amen.

Source: On our Knees publication (November Edition)