Why should I keep praying without seeing results?

This question is one which I think resonates with many people, and certainly one that they would be afraid to ask a priest. But, this really is a burning question that demands an answer. Why? Because we’ve all been in a situation in which we greatly desire something and aren’t getting it. What’s more, is that often the thing we want is something very good, (e.g. physical health, the conversion of a loved one, our vocation, etc.).

Then, going to our pastors, seeking advice in the matter, what are we told to do? Pray. And, you might be thinking, “I’m already doing that and it doesn’t seem to be working!” We can then ask ourselves why we should bother praying at all.

To get to the bottom of this, we need to look at Scripture.

First, Jesus Himself says, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him (Matthew 7:7-11).

In another place, He puts it even stronger: “If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14).

What are we to make of this? St. Thomas Aquinas, noticing that the faithful ask and do not receive provides this helpful answer: [W]e should consider here that he first says, “in my name,” then adds, “I will do it.” The name of Christ is the name of salvation: “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Therefore, one who asks for something pertaining to salvation asks in the name of Christ. It does happen that someone asks for something which does not pertain to salvation. This happens for two reasons. First, because one has a corrupt affection: when one asks for something to which he is attracted, but which he did not have, would be an obstacle to his salvation. One who asks this way is not heard because he asks wrongly: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly” (James 4:3). For when someone, because of his corrupt affection, would badly use what he wants to receive, he does not receive it because of our Lord’s compassion. The reason being that our Lord does not just look at one’s desire, but rather the helpfulness of what is desired. For the good Lord often denies what we ask in order to give us what we should prefer (Aquinas, Commentary on John).

Here, Aquinas is talking about when we ask for something that does not pertain to our salvation: a new sports car, the ill fate upon someone we dislike, etc. But, what about when you ask for something good?

Aquinas continues: The second reason we may ask for something which does not pertain to our salvation is our ignorance. We sometimes ask for what we think is helpful, but really is not. But, God takes care of us, and does not do what we ask. Thus Paul, who labored more than all others, asked our Lord three times to take away a thorn in his flesh, but he did not receive what he asked because it was not useful for him (2 Corinthians 12:8)…Thus it is clear that when we truly ask in His name…He will do it.

Furthermore, he says that Jesus “sometimes postpones what we ask so that our desire for it will increase and so that he can grant it at the right time.” Finally, and this would pertain especially to those times when we are praying for a loved one who has gone astray, “it sometimes happens that we pray for people and are perhaps not heard, and this is because they put obstacles in the way.”

As a final point, we must also recall that Jesus teaches us not only to pray, but also to persevere in prayer when He gives us this parable: And He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence” (Luke 11:5-8).

Keeping all of this in mind, let us persevere in prayer.

Fr. Greg Luger is parochial vicar at the Churches of St. Joseph in Williston, St. John the Baptist in Trenton and St. Boniface in Grenora.  If you have a question you were afraid to ask, now is the time to ask it! Simply email your question to [email protected] with the “Question Afraid to Ask” in the subject line.