P=1P+3P

Gen 18, 20-32
Col 2, 12-14
Lk 11, 1-13

Prayer Formula

When you see this thing P=1P+3P, what comes to your mind? Are they some numbers? Letters? Or signs and symbols? It (P=1P+3P) looks like a mathematical equation or formula, right?

Today’s Gospel talks about a unique formula, not a mathematical formula, but a “Prayer Formula” — (Prayer = 1P (praise) + 3P [patience, perseverance, and persistence]). Jesus says, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not subject us to the test.’ ”

If we ponder on this prayer that Jesus teaches us, we realize that it is divided into two parts. The first is “praising God” and the second, “the art of begging through prayer.”

Let us reflect on the first one – Praising God. The prayer starts with “Father, hallowed be your name…” Jesus reminds us that as we address our prayer to the Father, we must first acknowledge His greatness. We worship Him for He is the Almighty God and the “Omnipotent Being.” We glorify His name and recognize that He is the source of all the wonderful things in this world. We feel His very presence in our lives for His is the “Omnipresent Being.” We appreciate His generosity for He alone can grant the longings of our hearts. He knows what is inside our hearts and minds for He is the “Omniscient Being.” By saying, “your kingdom come,” we believe that He knows what is best for us at all times. We also earnestly ask God to bestow His graces and blessings upon us. We rely on God’s providence. We joyfully hope for something good and beautiful.

The second part of the prayer is about “the act and the art of begging.” “Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins as we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us. And do not subject us to the test.” Jesus illustrates this by citing the parable of a man asking his friend for bread because he has a visitor but has nothing to offer. Jesus further explains the art and the act of begging in this manner, “ask and you shall receive; seek and you shall find; and knock and it shall be opened to you.” These three (3) acts and art of begging can be converted into three (3) important attitudes when we pray.

Ask and you shall receive. Sometimes when we ask somebody for something, he or she will not immediately oblige, right? If we really want to get what we are asking for, we should be unrelenting and wait unceasingly until it is given to us. In waiting, we apply the virtue of patience. Patience requires one to have tenacity, endurance, fortitude, tolerance, or forbearance. As they say, “patience is a virtue” because not all people can patiently wait for something beautiful to happen.

Seek and you shall find. If we aim for something, we explore all possible means just to attain our goal. We exert extra effort and make use of our creativity to achieve our objective. What we often apply is the attitude of perseverance. Perseverance implies the attitude of one to keep going, to cling to, to see through, to stay firm, to remain determined, or to continue constantly.

Let me share my personal experience along the famous lines of “ask and you shall receive” and “seek and you shall find” – about patience and perseverance. At the beginning of the Second Semester of the School Year 2006 - 2007, one of the professors at the Divine Word School of Theology in Tagaytay City announced that there would be a quiz by the end of the year. That was December 2006. The professor gave the class enough time to review by making one of his classes vacant so that it would be intended for study period and research work. The quiz would constitute 20% of the final grade. The scope of the quiz consisted of about 160 pages of a book. My classmates and I took the exam last December 2006. When the results were released last January 2007, only six (6) out of the forty three (43) students passed. Thirty seven (37) of us failed.

20% constituted a big percentage in the computation of the final grade. The professor told us that the only way to obtain a better grade would be to submit a very good research paper and get a high score in the final exam. Most of those who failed in the quiz dropped the course and opted to re-enroll in the following semester or in the coming years. Out of the thrity seven (37) students,not including the six (6) students who passed the quiz, only the twelve (12) of us pursued the course. Everyone was pressured to produce a good paper so as to meet the expectation of the professor who maintained a certain standard in evaluating a research paper. One of my classmates would often say, “Bahala na ang Diyos.” Of course, I agree with Him that God will take care of the rest as long as we do our part too. Another thing that overwhelmed us was the bulk of the coverage of the final exam. Well, the long and short of it, all of us who took the challenge of pursuing the course finally succeeded. The professor congratulated each of us for our perseverance. All our efforts paid off.

That was one of the most challenging and beautiful experience I had ever encountered as a student. I would call it “my success” —not because I received a good grade, but more importantly, because of the process I went through and the sacrifices I endured to be able to pass the course. I imposed upon myself proper time management and discipline. I had to forego my siesta and recreation so as to gather relevant data and information in the school library. I had to rewrite, revise, and proofread my research paper many times to ensure that it would have a good result. I had to go over my notes so that I would have that much needed “security blanket” of knowledge as I take the final exam. Along with my human capacity, I constantly beg and ask the aid of God for I know that my efforts are worthless without His grace. The success that happened to me was an interplay of effort and prayer and an interaction of patience and perseverance.

Knock and it shall be opened. ILLUSTRATION (audience participation)

In the First Reading, Abraham was so persistent in haggling or bargaining with the Lord. With his persistence God granted his requests to spare the city from destruction.

Lest we forget, P=1P+3P. Prayer is Praising God (1P) together with patience, perseverance, and persistence (3Ps). God listens to our prayers. He knows when to give our needs. Sometimes, the answers to our prayers are delayed, perhaps because God wants us to talk to Him more often or God wants us to listen to Him. Sometimes God does not answer our prayers in the way we may want it to be, but He answers it in a way far more than what we are asking for. God knows best. No doubt about that. We need not dictate things upon Him. All we need is the “Prayer Formula of P=1P+3P.” As Saint Paul says in the Second Reading, the one essential thing that we need in our prayers is faith in the power of God. AMEN.