When there’s something we really want, we get to a point where we repeatedly ask God in prayer to give it to us. Sometimes we even go as far as to bargain with him, “Lord, please, ibigay nyo na po. Magpapakabait na po talaga ako. Pramis.” Which I’m pretty sure most of us are guilty of, myself included. And it’s truly amazing and beautiful, especially when after all the numerous prayers or shall we say, pangungulit kay Lord, we finally get what we asked for, and that’s the moment where we just want to shout out loud, “Thank you Lord! The best ka!” That feeling, it’s so overwhelming and fulfilling. And then we think to ourselves, siguro nakuha natin sa ka-kukulit. Aba, nag-novena ka ba naman, sinabayan mo pa ng araw-araw na rosary, sino ‘di makukulitan! We might laugh about that but in reality, it’s totally fine with the Lord. Yes, seriously, our Lord understands.

The parable of the friend at midnight is the proof that the Lord knows exactly how we behave in prayer. Jesus affirms that it isn’t because of the friendship that the man will get up to give the loaves of bread to the one knocking at his door at midnight. Instead, “He will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.” We as Catholic Christians, highly value persistence in our tradition. We repeatedly pray the Our Father in the rosary and we also have the Novenas where we worship the Lord in the mass for nine consecutive days. Others might say that repeated prayers lose their authenticity. But I beg to differ. Repeated prayers actually amplifies our commitment to God. It is such a beautiful act and shows great dependence on His providence. It shows faith at work, demonstrating that we continue to trust God one prayer after another. While commitment in spoken prayer is wonderful, we must remind ourselves that prayer is not limited to verbal. Prayer is a lifestyle. After speaking to God in prayer, we act on our faith that we will receive what we asked for. We do our part, we strive hard, and trust that God will do the rest. And while we aven’t received the answer to our prayers yet, we persist.

In the Gospel, Jesus taught the disciples how to pray. He then gives the Our Father to them as an example of how we can communicate with God the Father. In prayer, we express our adoration, confession thanksgiving and supplication needs. In short, the ACTS prayer. Sometimes, we often forget the other parts of the prayer and focus simply on supplication. We forget to glorify God, to praise his beautiful name and Just skip to something specific. Yet despite of our broken prayers, the Lord listens and answers. Why? Because grace, that’s why. And today, we can just make up for all the praises we missed. We can simply say “I love you, Lord” in prayer and that would be enough. But if we want to make it sweeter and more intimate, I invite you brothers and sisters to say it in the eucharist. Thats Jesus right there, right in His flesh.

~Blessy

Source: Neo Jeremiah Voice of the Young Prophet Newsletter ~ July 28, 2019 issue.