Will Not God Vindicate His Elect, Who Cry to Him Day and Night | iPray with the Gospel

Jesus told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man; and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Vindicate me against my adversary.’ For a while he refused; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will vindicate her, or she will wear me out by her continual coming.'” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Luke 18:1-8

Jesus wants us to pray without losing heart. But this Gospel passage finishes with a reproach for the lack of faith. Many people don’t pray because they don’t expect their prayers to be answered. For some, prayer is the last resort. After trying everything and finding that nothing succeeds, then the only thing left is to pray. A doctor had a reputation of being incompetent. After a check-up his patient asked, ‘Is it something serious, doctor?’ The doctor replied, ‘We are in the hands of God, madam’ and left the room. The woman turned to the nurse and said, ‘Is it that bad?’ The nurse smiled at the lady and answered: ‘Believe me, madam: it’s way better to be in the hands of God than in the hands of this doctor!’

It is definitely way better to be in the Hands of God than in the hands of men, but people lack trust in those Divine Hands. If we had faith in the power of prayer we could turn the world upside down in a tick. The founder of an orphanage undergoing financial hardships came to St John Mary Vianney to seek advice. He was considering the idea of attracting public opinion by using the press to make, as he said ‘a bit of noise.’ The holy priest of Ars replied: ‘Instead of making noise in the newspapers, go and make noise in front of the Tabernacle.” It’s a good piece of advice. Let’s trust in the power of prayer. The world needs more Christians on their knees than Christian websites and posts on Facebook and Twitter

Mary, Help of Christians, help me to never give up on prayer; to have faith in the power of prayer.