Prayer is what “the Lord said”

Lord My Chef Sunday Recipe for the Soul, 19 October 2025
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
Exodus 17:8-13 ><))))*> 2 Timothy 3:14-4:2 ><))))*> Luke 18:1-8

There are just five more weeks remaining in our current liturgical calendar and soon after the Solemnity of Christ the King on November 23, we shall usher in the new year with the season of Advent on November 30 – the four Sundays before Christmas.

That is why today and next Sunday, as Jesus nears Jerusalem Luke tells us more teachings of the Lord about prayer not found in other gospel accounts, namely, the parables of the unjust judge and persistent widow, and the Pharisee and the tax collector.

Remember that prayer is so central in the message of Luke in his gospel account as well as in the Acts of the Apostles wherein we see Jesus and the early Church always at prayer. For Luke, prayer is more of a relationship with God than a ritual, an expression of our faith in God. Hence, the need to persist in prayer like that widow in today’s parable by Jesus.

Jesus told his disciples a parable about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary. He said, “There was a judge in a certain town who neither feared God nor respected any human being. And a widow in that town used to come to him and say, ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’ For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought…’because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.'” (Luke 18:1-5).

While we are all very familiar with this parable, one thing needs to be clarified: many times we are indeed “persistent” in our prayers like that widow in the Lord’s parable but after a long time of praying, we wonder, even doubt God as nothing seems to happen to our prayers that remain unanswered.

So, what is to persist in prayer like that widow in the Lord’s parable?

The answer lies not entirely in the parable but in the conclusion by Jesus as presented by Luke:

The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says. Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:6-8)

We reflected last Sunday in the healing of the ten lepers that faith is a relationship expressed when we are grateful to God who blesses us as shown by the Samaritan leper healed. This Sunday, Luke deepens that truth that prayer is an expression of faith when he called Jesus as “Lord” at the conclusion of the parable.

The Lord said...

First, we notice him telling us how “The Lord said”. Luke did not simply use his usual style of narration of “Jesus said” because in using the title “Lord”, he gives a solemn tone to the declaration by Jesus at the end of the parable where its lesson actually lies.

Moreover, it is the title “Lord” is what the disciples attributed to the Resurrected Christ; to call Jesus as “Lord” is to have complete faith in him.

Second, when Luke wrote “The Lord said” in the conclusion of the parable, he was introducing a revelation to which we must all “pay attention” as the Lord demanded his listeners then. God is more than that unjust judge in the parable because as the Lord said, “he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.”

Actually, the parable is not about praying unceasingly or persistently to obtain one’s favor because “the Lord said” God does not wait for his “chosen ones who call out to him day and night”; recall how Jesus had said in many instances that even before we ask God in prayers, he already knew what we needed. God is always speaking to us and we merely respond to him when we pray. That is why every time we pray, our prayer is already answered because we have responded to God. But, have we really listened to God in our prayers? This leads us to the important teaching of the Gospel this Sunday.

Third, the most important teaching in that conclusion of the parable of the persistent widow and unjust judge, Jesus our Lord teaches us that God does not only give justice but actually “does justice speedily” or swiftly.

“To do justice” in the Bible means more than rendering a fair judgment like in our courts; in fact, it means differently because “to do justice” biblically means “to justify”, “to renew”, and “to save” as Paul used extensively in his letters.

Therefore, to pray persistently is primarily to pray to be saved or justified. The main lesson of today’s parable is still faith – faith in God who saves us; faith in Jesus Christ our Lord who will come again to lead us to eternal life; and faith that must be reawakened in us always because without it, we cannot find salvation in God nor meaning in this life.

We pray not just to have things which God always knows so well even before we ask him. But, why still pray if God knows what we need? Because we do not know what God needs from us which is to pray always for him, to have him because he is our life, our salvation.

That is why we must persist in prayer and never lose heart because the moment we stop praying, the more we get discouraged in life, then we start doubting God and his love for us, his powers and beautiful plans for us. When this happens, everything falls and we alone suffer and lost.

Hence, the Lord’s challenge to each one of us today with his question at the end of the lesson of his parable, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

To persist in prayer is not about wearing God down but of allowing our hearts to clarify our desires until we silently surrender to what God knows is best for us which is salvation, to be with him in eternity.

Since Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem, that has always been the most frequently asked question to him. And where can we find its answers? Right in the Sacred Scriptures as Paul reminded Timothy in the second reading: “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2Tim.3:16-17).

When we fill ourselves with the Word of God, we are filled with God which is basically what holiness is. That is when we live in deep faith in God when our faith becomes so powerful and transformative because it is aligned with God and his Will as we reflected the other Sunday.

Therefore, to persist in prayers is also to align ourselves with God and his plans and agenda when we can declare like St. Paul that “It is no longer I who lives but Christ in me” (Ga. 2:20). As we have always said, prayer does not change things and situations; prayer changes the person primarily to be like Christ, to be faithful to God always.

Life is difficult, often like a battle with many enemies always attacking us. God is always with us, knows our needs so well but it is still us who shall fight the many battles in this life like the Israelites in the first reading. Without faith and prayer, we cannot fight our many battles in life like the Israelites who prevailed over the stronger forces of Amalek. We can only have the advantage in our many struggles and trials in life when we completely place ourselves under the banner of God in Jesus Christ. Amen. have a prayerful and faithful week ahead, everyone. Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II, Our Lady of Fatima University, Valenzuela City (lordmychef@gmail.com)