Thursday, June 1 (May 19), 2023
Acts 25:13-19; Jn. 16:23-33 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you” ─ said the Lord and confirmed: “Verily, verily, I say unto you” [Jn. 16:23].  What a shame for us that we make no use of such a great promise! In fact, not only shame for us, but even a shadow is cast over the promise itself, as if it is too great and unrealistic.

No, we have to blame only ourselves, mainly for our failure to be faithful servants of Christ which prevents our conscience from expecting any mercy from the Lord.  Moreover, it happens that even if we ask the Lord for something, we do it with a split mind: we mention something in prayer a couple of times as if in passing ─ and then drop it, only to complain later: “God does not hear me!”   That’s all wrong.  In our prayer we ought to be persistent and tireless, like that widow who made even the heartless judge to do what she asked him [Lk. 18:1-8]. 

True believers add fasting, vigil, all sorts of hardships and charitable work to their prayer, and furthermore, they ask not for a few days, but for months and years ─ but they receive what they ask for.  Follow their example if you wish your prayer to be fruitful.

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