Importunate Prayer!

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Esth C: 12, 14-16, 23-25; Mt 7:7-12

Today’s Gospel highlights why we should be importunate in prayer. 

There are at least three reasons why we should pray unceasingly. 

1. The Goodness of God: The first reason we should submit ourselves in prayer is thanks to the everlasting goodness of God. It is who God is that inspires our prayer. We should not misunderstand Jesus’ words that we have to continuously remind God to either love us or grant us what we need. Instead, such constant communion is stressed by Jesus because God, the loving Father, expects His children to turn to Him in love and trust. God’s love will give us more than we ask and more than we deserve.

2. The Sureness of God’s Gift: Jesus wants us to pray because God’s response to our request will always be ‘yes.’ We must look at Jesus’ words: ‘Everyone who asks receives; everyone who searches finds; for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.’ If we are sure of God’s affirmative response, how can we understand the times we do not receive exactly what we requested? God’s ‘yes’ may not always look like our expectation. It could always mean ‘something better’ and ‘a little later,’ always intending the best for us.

3. The Nearness of God: Jesus wishes that his disciples hold dear the fact that God is near always. He is close to those who need Him. He is just a prayer away. This is why Jesus persuades his disciples to ‘ask, seek, and knock.’ With only a little effort and willingness, we will have God on our side. We must remember that in The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Lk 15:11-32), ‘It is the Father who closed the distance before the son could.’ It is never that God is distant. It is we who distance ourselves from God. 

Thus, in prayer, we discover that we can always access the good God and receive the gift of His grace unfailingly. 

Let us pray that we may always approach God with profound courage and trust.

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar