“He told them a parable about the need to pray always, without growing weary.” Never is the prayer request as clear as in this passage of the Gospel, as a constant necessity that must be defended against inconsistency and discouragement.
When we pray, we do so only when we are in need, but we either tire quickly or stop as soon as we find ourselves satisfied in this or that need. Prayer, however, is striving with all our being toward God through a constant and uninterrupted desire that is always tested by the feeling that God does not care about us.
That is why Jesus tells this parable: “There was a judge in a town who did not fear God and had no regard for anyone. There was also a widow in that town who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he refused, but then he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God and have no regard for anyone, because this widow is so troublesome, I will grant her justice, so that she will not keep coming to me.’ (Luke 18:1-8)
If praying means feeling accepted, then all the devil has to do is put the opposite feeling in us and we will no longer pray. But if praying means being persistent in prayer, then evil will try everything (thoughts, distractions, temptations, dryness), but in the end, persistent prayer will win.
We must pray with the certainty that the Lord always hears us, not because he does as we tell him, but because he always accomplishes what we have asked of him in a way that is truer than we can imagine or hope for. The consequence of this reasoning is one: “And will God not bring justice to his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night, and will he make them wait a long time? I tell you that he will bring them justice promptly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth? “
Translated, this means: ”But do you believe that you are so loved that the Lord could not fail to take seriously every single breath you take directed toward Him?” In fact, to pray is to direct everything to Him instead of to us.
