Praying confidently and with persistence
There is one difference that distinguishes prayer to God from prayers addressed to another person. Prayer addressed to another demands a certain degree of familiarity from the outset, thanks to which one gains access to the person one is begging from. Whereas prayer to God makes us, in itself, friends of God. Our souls are lifted up to him, lovingly converse with him, and adore him in spirit and truth (Jn 4,23).
This close relationship that is acquired as one prays prompts a person to apply himself to prayer with confidence. Hence it is said in the psalm: “I call upon you,†that is to say, I have prayed with confidence, “for you have answered me, O God†(16[17],6). Having been taken into close relationship with God through the original prayer, the psalmist then prays with increased confidence. Thus, in prayer to God, diligence or persistence in asking is not an imposition but, rather, pleasing to God. For the gospel says: “We should always pray and never grow wearyâ€, and elsewhere the Lord invites us to make our requests: “Ask and you will receive, he says, knock and it will be opened to you†(Mt 7,7).
St. Teresa of Avila