Is the command to “pray always” a literary exaggeration, or a hyperbole? St. Paul gives a similar exhortation, “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16–18). St. Paul uses an even stronger word to pray constantly or unceasingly.
Christians throughout the ages have taken this command seriously, but practically speaking it seems impossible. St. Augustine offers a solution commenting on Psalm 38:9, “Lord, before you is all my desire, and my groaning is not hidden from you.” (Psalm 38:9). “This very desire is your prayer,” St. Augustine notes, “and if your desire is continuous, your prayer is continuous too” (Expositions of the Psalms 33–50, 9-10). We pray continuously by lifting our heart up to God at all times. He also notes that “…we also pray to God in words at certain fixed hours and times, so that we may urge ourselves on and take note with ourselves how much progress we have made in this desire, and may rouse ourselves more earnestly to increase it. (Letter 130). In this way we can attempt to pray without ceasing.
Jesus admonishes us to pray like this so that we will not become weary. Prayer is a way to maintain our faith in the face of trials and difficulties. As Jesus asks at the end of the parable, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:8b).
What can we learn about prayer in this parable?
Jesus compares prayer to a widow who seeks justice from an unjust judge. Although God’s character and nature are completely different from the unjust judge, we are told the judge finally gives in to the widow's request. The judge says, “’While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being, because this widow keeps bothering me I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.’”
The lectionary may be too literal here. The expression “lest she finally come and strike me (hypōpiazē), can mean “to give someone a black eye,” but it can also be used figuratively, meaning to wear someone down emotionally or to beat down someone’s reputation. [1] Are we really to believe the judge gave in under a threat of violence?
More generally, we need to be careful with this comparison in relation to our own prayer life. Are we to think that God does not notice our needs and only answers because we keep bothering him or pestering him with our prayers? God is not an unjust judge but our loving Father.
Traditionally we have understood four things about the presence of God in our prayer. First the eyes of God are always upon us. There is nothing hidden from him. We have no need to give God an update on the situation! Secondly by his divine power his hand is at work in every situation. What he does not directly cause, he at least allows. Everything is part of his divine plan. Even the evil God allows brings about his good according to his providence. Thirdly God has shared his divine essence with all of his creation, and we continue to exist because of this. God is ever present to all of us and is not distracted in one place so that he needs to share his attention for us with others. He is completely present to all of us at once. Finally, for Christians, God is present by the indwelling of his Spirit. This is the most intimate and personal form of his presence. When God dwells in us, we then dwell in him. We are not just held in existence by his presence, we live in his presence.
Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23). We become friends of God (John 15:15). Because of his all-powerful presence, prayer is not a time to inform God or to persuade God. He already knows our needs and will act according to his divine purpose.
When we pray for a favor, and it is granted in our prayer, we have not changed God’s mind. Instead, what happens is, we were moved interiorly by God to pray, and we became aware of something he had already chosen to give.
The purpose of our unceasing prayer is to allow our desire to be transformed in union with his desires. As St. James reminds us, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Our prayer should fan the flames of our relationship with God. It should inspire our faith and draw us closer to him.
More generally, we need to be careful with this comparison in relation to our own prayer life. Are we to think that God does not notice our needs and only answers because we keep bothering him or pestering him with our prayers? God is not an unjust judge but our loving Father.
Traditionally we have understood four things about the presence of God in our prayer. First the eyes of God are always upon us. There is nothing hidden from him. We have no need to give God an update on the situation! Secondly by his divine power his hand is at work in every situation. What he does not directly cause, he at least allows. Everything is part of his divine plan. Even the evil God allows brings about his good according to his providence. Thirdly God has shared his divine essence with all of his creation, and we continue to exist because of this. God is ever present to all of us and is not distracted in one place so that he needs to share his attention for us with others. He is completely present to all of us at once. Finally, for Christians, God is present by the indwelling of his Spirit. This is the most intimate and personal form of his presence. When God dwells in us, we then dwell in him. We are not just held in existence by his presence, we live in his presence.
Jesus says, “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23). We become friends of God (John 15:15). Because of his all-powerful presence, prayer is not a time to inform God or to persuade God. He already knows our needs and will act according to his divine purpose.
When we pray for a favor, and it is granted in our prayer, we have not changed God’s mind. Instead, what happens is, we were moved interiorly by God to pray, and we became aware of something he had already chosen to give.
The purpose of our unceasing prayer is to allow our desire to be transformed in union with his desires. As St. James reminds us, “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8). Our prayer should fan the flames of our relationship with God. It should inspire our faith and draw us closer to him.
[1] Darrell L. Bock, Luke: 9:51–24:53, vol. 2, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1996), 1449.
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