Daily Gospel Reflection for October 6, 2016

Today's Gospel: Luke 11, 5-13

How many times do we give up praying for something because we don’t think that God is listening, or we think He is just plain tired of hearing the same old thing from us?

Luke recounts a parable of Jesus, with a little humor, in today’s Gospel. He explains that a friend reluctantly wakes in the middle of the night to help his neighbor, but only so that he can be left alone and at peace to sleep with his family. While we can chuckle at the image of the grumpy man and the annoying neighbor, we also have to recognize the unrelenting tenacity of the neighbor to get what he needs. He asks, he seeks and he knocks…incessantly!

God wants us to approach him in exactly this same way in our everyday prayer life. He wants us to come to Him and trust that He will provide for our every need. He longs for us to bang on His door, no matter what time of day or night, and persist in our requests. He yearns to show us that because of our insistence, through the Holy Spirit, His generosity is limitless and His love inexhaustible.

Always remain steadfast in your prayers, be patient and persevering, and surrender to the will of the Father. He knows “how to give good gifts”.

Ponder:

What does God desire us to pray for? And why?

Pray:

Heavenly Father, we ask You to send your Holy Spirit to inspire us to pray faithfully and with conviction. May we never surrender our prayer life, but surrender completely to your kind and loving will for our lives.

Copyright 2016 Leona R. Peszka

Leona Peszka works for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, FL as the Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ministry and is a parishioner at Sacred Heart in Pinellas Park. Her parish ministry endeavors include Spiritual Direction for CRHP, Lector, Eucharistic Minister, Parish Council, RCIA Catechist, Youth Ministry Core Team and Parish Book Club Facilitator. She was commissioned in June of 2014 as a Lay Ecclesial Minister upon her completion of the LPMI program and is now a Mentor for the Theological Reflection aspect for current students. She is a graduate of the University of Tampa.