Pray Like Jesus

by David Lins  |  07/28/2019  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

Working in the land of rattlesnakes and scorpions, certain lines of scripture hit a bit closer to home. For example: “What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

Jesus said these words after the disciple saw him praying and asked him to teach them how to pray. Think about this for a moment. They obviously knew how to pray. They were inspired by how Jesus prayed. They wanted to learn how to pray like him.

He opened it up with the Our Father. (Hopefully, Father tackled it during his homily.) Then, he told a story.

"Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,' and he says in reply from within, 'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.' I tell you, if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence.”

If we back up and learn where the translators got the word persistence, it actually comes from the Greek word anaideia which translates more precisely to “shamelessness.”

This man was shameless in his request. He paid no heed to custom or etiquette. He was begging. It was after midnight. His friend was sleeping, as where his friend’s children.

This is how Jesus is telling us to pray. Shameless. Begging. Persistent.

How many of us say a prayer, don’t get a result, shrug our shoulders, and move along? What a shame.

Finally, Jesus caps it off with the example of even the wicked father never giving a snake or a scorpion. Like the Father of a small child, he knows what we need and he is eager to give it. Check out the Catechism paragraphs 2735 & 2736 on the next page for more on unanswered prayers.

Questions? Comments? Email David at dlins@oloj.org.

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