God Searches for our Voice in Prayer

29th sunday c luke 18:1-8

"Will not God then secure the rights of His chosen ones who call out to Him day and night? Will He be slow to answer them?" (Lk.18:7).

A couple was fighting, after the argument the wife gave her husband a silent treatment. Three days had passed but still the wife would not speak with her husband. When she entered their room, she saw him ransacking their cabinet. Annoyed with what she saw, she asked him, "What are you looking for?" The husband looked at her, gave her a sweet smile and said, "Finally, I found it! I am searching for your voice."

When we pray we lift our voices not only to praise and thank God but ask for our needs. Sometimes when we don't get what we pray for we ask why God is so insensitive to our pleas. We begin to give Him silent treatment. We stop praying. But God searches for our voices in prayer.

Through the parable of the persistent widow, Jesus tells us that we must persevere in our prayer even if no answer seems to be provided. In ancient Israel, a widow was a symbol of all who were poor and defenseless. In the parable a widow used to come to a judge who neither fear God nor respect any human being. She asked him to render a just decision for her against her adversary. For a long time the judge was unwilling but eventually he thought, "While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps on bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally came and strike me."

The widow did not lose hope that she will get justice and so she kept on coming back to plead with the unjust judge. Her persistence gradually wore him down and eventually gave her what she wanted to stop her from pestering him. Jesus points out that if this unjust judge gave the woman her way because of her persistence, how much more will our Heavenly Father give to those who call upon Him. Nonetheless, from our experience we don't seem to get all that we asked for. How could we reconcile this incongruence?

I think it is important to bear in mind that our relationship with God is not like that of a child who expects his parents to give everything that he wants. This is not helpful in bringing out the best in us. If God does not grant what we want it doesn't mean to say He doesn't love us. Loving is not tantamount to giving. God is a judicious giver meaning He judges first whether what we ask for would be beneficial to us or not. God allows us to pray for what we want so that we may know what is good for us. Sometimes though, we do not know that what we ask for would hurt rather than help. Since God sees time in whole, He knows what is good for us in the long run. Thus, instead of giving God a silent treatment, Jesus tells us never to be discouraged in our prayer because it is necessary to maintain a loving and trusting relationship with Him.

How can our faith remain strong in the face of delays in our requests, occasional trials and test, adversities and difficult situations in our life, and serious trouble if we cease from praying? God searches for our voices in prayer. We must be persistent because God listens to us. Even though many times we cannot comprehend His ways we just have to trust Him because He only wants the best for us.