“Perpetual adoration with exposition needs a great push.” - Mother Teresa

“Each day we should spend one hour in adoration except on days we are busy, then we should spend two” -Mother Teresa

Gospel text (Lk 11,5-13):
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
"Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,"
and he says in reply from within,
"Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything."
I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.

"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit
to those who ask him?"

Today's gospel passage is often misinterpreted to only mean we should persist in prayer. Persistence is part of the parable, but not the main point (Lk 11:8). The parable concludes that, if we can get something from an uncooperative friend through persistence, we can be sure of receiving much more, even the Holy Spirit, from our heavenly Father Who loves us with a perfect love (Lk 11:13).

The point of the parable is the certainty of our prayers being answered. Because we are certain our prayers will be answered as we expect or in an even better way, we are motivated not only to persist in prayer but to pray always (Lk 18:1). Because of our Father's love, we see the power, privilege, and joy of prayer. To pray always is not a burden but a cause for thanksgiving (see Phil 4:6).

When we pray, we are not doing God a favor. He is gracing us with the awesome privilege of communicating with Him. We can never be worthy enough to pray, but the Lord gives us the privilege of entering into His presence always, and not just once in a lifetime. Pray in thanksgiving for God's gift of prayer.

To conclude, lets take to heart the words of Mother Teresa speaking about persistence in prayer and the fruit it bears:

“It was not until 1973, when we began our daily Holy Hour that our community started to grow and blossom... In our congregation, we used to have adoration once a week for one hour, and then in 1973, we decided to have adoration one hour every day. We have much work to do. Our homes for the sick and dying destitute are full everywhere. And from the time we started having adoration every day, our love for Jesus became more intimate, our love for each other more understanding, our love for the poor more compassionate, and we have double the number of vocations. God has blessed us with many wonderful vocations. The time we spend in having our daily audience with God is the most precious part of the whole day.”