NEVER GIVE UP IN YOUR PRAYERS. (Homily for Saturday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time, Year B.)

Bible Study:  Wisdom 18, 14 to 19, 6 to 9. And Luke 18, 1 to 8.


When we pray to God for something and we do not get immediate answers to it, there is always a tendency in us to stop praying for those intentions. This is because, we either feel God is unwilling to grant it to us or that we do not deserve such intentions. But surprisingly Jesus tells us today in our Gospel passage: NEVER STOP PRAYING!

How and why God chooses to grant immediate or delayed results to our prayers is a mystery! We cannot fully predict God, even the most intelligent theologians the world has ever produced have never been able to come up with a formula for quick answers. There were times I prayed for something in less than three minutes and I got the result. There were other times I said masses for certain intentions repeatedly for weeks and did not get the answer I had desired. But Jesus is telling us today, TIME SHOULD NOT BE BARRIER!.

At times, we are tempted to think that God answers prayers based on our level of holiness. I have heard people say things like: “The prayer of a sinner is an abomination to God.” If that is the case, how do we reconcile it with John 3, 16; “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son….” And the world being referred to here was a world of sinners. Can you love someone and at the same time consider that person’s words as abomination? Impossible. So therefore, WE MUST NEVER GIVE UP IN PRAYERS.

Our awareness of guilt arising from sin should not stop us from praying, rather we should approach God like the tax collector who went up to the temple to pray and without raising his head simply said: “Be merciful to me a sinner.” This man went home justified unlike the Pharisee who simply prayed to himself. We should not allow Satan, the accuser of the brethren lie to us that our prayers are useless. If we believe our prayers are useless on the basis of our sins, this would only lead to despair (turning our backs on God) and plunge us even deeper and deeper into greater sin all in a bid to seek consolation from the world. Yes, we may not get immediate results but as Jesus says this morning: NEVER GIVE UP IN PRAYER!

Living a righteous life should be our hallmark but we should not forget that it is through prayer we get to tap the needed power and grace to avoid sin. Even the time we spend praying everyday washes us from worldliness, takes away temptation and doubles our faith. One of the best forms of prayer is PRAISE. Our responsorial Psalm this morning says REMEMBER THE WONDERS THE LORD HAS DONE, NEVER FORGET HIS GOOD DEEDS. In moments of desperation, when it seems as if nothing is working, the best thing to do is to start singing praises to God and while singing, you may do well to bolster your faith by recalling what God has done for you in the past. Just begin to ask yourself, “What would I have been right now, if God had not saved me from that accident? What would I have been if God had not allowed me to be born? Perhaps I could have been aborted by my mum, perhaps I would have been a still birth, and perhaps I would have died in my childhood days from some diseases. I can walk well today because I was immunized against polio. Am I better than those children whose mothers did not know of the need for immunization? Am I just luckier than those children who were aborted by their parents? What have I done better than them if not for God? Just go through your whole life and start analyzing things that would have befallen you but God saw you through.

By the time you finish this exercise, you would realize that you really have no reason to complain about not getting immediate answers from God. SING PRAISES TO HIS MOST HOLY NAME. NEVER STOP PRAYING. And if the only prayer you ever say is “Thank you” it will be enough.

Let us Pray:
Lord Jesus, you have taught me the importance of constant prayers today. I therefore resolve never to give up on my daily prayers. Amen.


Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. Happy Weekend.

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