“Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.”

"Provided that we don't give up, the Lord will guide everything for our benefit, even though we may not find someone to teach us. There is no other remedy for this evil of giving up prayer than to begin again; otherwise the soul will gradually lose more each day--and please God that it will understand this fact."~ St. Teresa of Avila, (The Interior Castle, II, 1:9)

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?”

Luke tells us to knock at the door. The Lord opens to us in our need and will never send anyone away empty. ‘He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty’, not those who come knocking and are hungry (LK: 1:52). Into our empty hands the Lord will place a gift. Can we be sure that we will get something? Indeed. There are no tricks, no bad purpose. God does good like our parents, but Our Father will do good even beyond what we can count on from caring parents.

The Father will give us the Holy Spirit and as hearers of God's Word we already posses this gift. Therefore, we must pray avoiding any feelings of being disheartened, even if we think our prayer is being ignored or is not given heed to right away. This is the attitude of that inappropriate man calling on his friend's home in the middle of the night to request a favor.

God is the friend who listens from within to whoever is persistent enough. We must believe that He will end up giving us what we NEED but not necessary what we WANT. Remember, there is a big difference between the two. Why? Because in addition to being a friend, He is also our Father.