We pray with courage, because when we pray we normally have a need. God is a friend, a rich friend, who has bread, who has what we need. It is as if Jesus were saying: ‘In prayer, be persistent, do not grow weary’. Don't get tired of what? Of asking. Ask and it will be given to you. Because it is a job, a job that asks us for will, asks us for constancy, asks us to be determined, without shame. Why? Because I am knocking on my friend's door. God is a friend, and with a friend I can do this. Constant, intrusive prayer. (...) And a friend always gives good, he gives more: I ask him to solve this problem, and he solves it and also gives you the Holy Spirit. He gives more. Let's think a little: how do I pray? Like a parrot? Do I pray with need in my heart? Do I wrestle with God in prayer to give me what I need, if it is right? Let us learn from this Gospel passage how to pray. (Santa Marta, 11 October 2018)