Praying to God at once makes us intimate with God since our souls rise up to him, engage lovingly with him and worship him in spirit and truth (Jn 4,23). And thus, in this familiar friendship with God that prayer produces, the way is opened towards an even more trustful prayer. Hence it is said in one of the Psalms: “I have called upon you,” that is to say I have prayed with trust, “for you have answered me, O my God” (Ps 17[16],6). Having been received into God's intimacy by a first prayer, the psalmist then prays with even greater confidence. That is why, where prayer addressed to God is concerned, perseverance or insistence in asking is not out of place. To the contrary, it is pleasing to God because, says the Gospel, “we should pray always without growing weary” (Lk 18,1). And besides, our Lord invites us to ask: “Ask and you will receive,” he says, “knock and it will be opened to you.”
