Today the Gospel is a catechesis from Jesus on prayer. He solemnly assures us that the Father always listens: “ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Lk 11:9).

At times, we might think that experience shows otherwise—that prayer doesn’t always “work” that way. But the truth is, we must pray with the right dispositions!

The first is constancy—perseverance. We are called to pray without losing heart, even if it seems that our prayer meets resistance or that it is not answered immediately. This is the lesson of the man who goes at midnight to ask his friend for bread. By his persistence, he receives what he needs. God is that friend who listens from within to the one who remains constant. We must trust that He will eventually grant what we ask, because He is not only Friend, but Father.

The second attitude Jesus teaches is trust and childlike love. God’s fatherhood goes infinitely beyond human fatherhood, which is always limited and imperfect: “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven …?” (Lk 11:13).

The third: we must ask above all for the Holy Spirit, and not only for material things. Jesus urges us to ask for the Spirit, assuring us that we will receive Him: “... how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Lk 11:13). This prayer is always answered. To ask for the Spirit is really to ask for the gift of prayer itself, since the Holy Spirit is its source and origin.

Blessed Brother Giles of Assisi, companion of St. Francis, summed up this Gospel teaching when he said: “Pray faithfully and devotedly, because a grace God has not granted you once, He may grant to you some other time. On your part, humbly place your whole mind in God, and God will place his grace in you, as and when He pleases.”