Do We Ask Too Much from God?
Br. Peter Lawrence Vu, O.P., reflects on the Gospel for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Have you ever wondered: “Do we ask too much from God?” or “Could our prayers be annoying to Him?” Sometimes we feel this way when we’ve prayed for something over and over and nothing seems to change. We may begin to think: “Maybe God is tired of hearing me ask for something.” But in reality, that is never the case. God never gets tired of us. In fact, He delights when we return to Him, even with the same prayer, day after day.
In this week’s Gospel, Jesus tells the story of the persistent widow. She keeps going to an unjust judge, begging for justice. At first, he refuses. He doesn’t care about her, he doesn’t fear God, and he has no compassion. But finally he gives in because she refuses to give up. And Jesus says to us: “If even an unjust judge finally listens, how much more will our loving Father hear the cries of His children?”
But why does God sometimes delay in responding to our prayer? Why does it feel like God is sometimes silent? The truth is, this delay does not mean absence. God’s silence is not rejection. His silence or delay is to keep seeking, to keep knocking, and to keep deepening our faith.
St. Augustine puts it beautifully: “God sometimes delays His response so that our desire may grow and so that we may receive His gifts more fully.” The waiting is not wasted — it stretches our hearts, it prepares us, so when His answer comes, we can recognize it and receive it with greater gratitude.
Persistence in prayer is not about wearing God down. We can’t force Him to do what we want. This persistence is about a relationship with God. A child who keeps asking their father isn’t annoying him — the father is glad the child trusts him enough to keep coming back. In the same way, every time we pray, we are strengthening our trust in the Father’s love.
And this is why Jesus ends with a heavy question: “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Faith is not just believing once. Faith is persevering. True faith keeps praying, even in the silence and in waiting. Persistent prayer is the visible sign of persistent faith.
So let us continue to pray always and never lose heart. God is never absent. He always listens.
