The Persistant Widow How often my nephew badgered his parents when he saw a toy advertised on TV! By his persistence, I suspect he hoped to change his parents’ minds about what was good for him. The same is often true about our prayer. We pray to change God’s will, that is, we pray for what we think we need or want and hope we can convince God to give it to us. In the Gospel, Jesus does encourage persistence in prayer. True persistence is not badgering God for what we want. True persistence in prayer wells up from a deep faith and brings out the hope that leads us to the longer view and broader vision of Jesus. Our persistence in prayer brings us to new eternal life. Persistence in prayer is not nagging God for what we want. Prayer informed by deep faith is openness to what God wants for us, which always leads to a greater good than we can know or imagine.