Yesterday’s Gospel (Luke 18:1–8) is sticking with me. It’s tells the story of a persistent widow who refuses to give up. She pleads with a judge for justice, again and again, until he relents—not because he is just, but because she will not stop asking. Jesus shares this parable so that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart.”
If I’m honest, persistence in prayer is a muscle I need to strengthen. Sometimes I feel totally connected to God in prayer and other times I grow weary and wonder if I’m asking enough for the overwhelming needs in my life, my family and friends lives and the entire world. But the Gospel reminds me: keep asking. Not because God is reluctant, but because He is forming me in the asking.
Saint Augustine said that God sometimes delays His gifts so that our hearts might expand. That delay is not punishment—it’s preparation. The waiting tills the soil. The longing deepens the roots. The unanswered prayer becomes its own kind of grace, shaping me into someone who can receive.
Still, I need help. I need to ask God to grow this persistence in me—to stretch my heart, to strengthen my hope, to keep me faithful when the answers are slow in coming. I want to be found praying, not fainting. Asking, not resigning. Trusting, not turning away.
Lord, help me to keep knocking. Help me to remain faithful.
Smitten With Goodness 