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“If faith fails, prayer perishes,” said St. Augustine. When he read and meditated on today’s Gospel, he saw a deep connection between faith and prayer. The Gospel has a parable about the necessity of perseverance in prayer — or more precisely, it is about the necessity to “pray always,” as St. Luke says explicitly.

The widow obtains the just judgment she desires, even from an unjust judge. Why? Because of her persistence in asking. If even a corrupt judge will finally answer that widow’s pleading because she did not relent, how much more will God hear the unceasing prayers of his children. And immediately after making this point about prayer, Our Lord mentions faith. He asks, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Prayer and faith, faith and prayer: the two are intimately connected.

And so, St. Augustine says, “If faith fails, prayer perishes. For who prays who does not believe?” Faith is the spring from which prayer flows forth. When our faith dries up, usually so does our life of prayer.

This means that when we notice ourselves letting prayer fall by the wayside, it should signal to us that we have let our faith grow weak. It is not just that we are busy. Even busy people can make time for prayer. It is that we have let our faith grow weak. This is not a reason for despair or discouragement. It is a wake-up call. We can hear Jesus’ words to us today as a heartfelt plea: “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Will he find faith in your heart today?

If you have let your prayer life slip, now you have something to pray: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief” (Mk 9:24); “Increase our faith” (Lk 17:5). The relationship between faith and prayer works both ways. The holy Bishop of Hippo said, “Faith pours out prayer, and the pouring out of prayer obtains the strengthening of faith.” With whatever faith you have (no matter how weak), pour forth prayers that the Lord may strengthen your faith. He will answer those prayers.

A similar observation was made by Pope Francis a few years ago. In his Angelus address Oct. 16, 2022, he said to us, “We often focus on so many urgent but unnecessary things. We occupy and preoccupy ourselves with so many secondary realities. And perhaps without even realizing it, we neglect what matters most and we allow our love for God to grow cold, to grow cold bit by bit.

“Today, Jesus offers us the remedy to rekindle a tepid faith. And what is the remedy? Prayer. Prayer is the medicine for faith, it is a tonic for the soul. However, it needs to be constant prayer.

“If we must undergo a treatment to get better, it is important to follow it well, to take the medicine consistently and regularly in the right way and at the right times. This is necessary in all of life. Let us think of a houseplant: We must water it consistently every day. We cannot soak it and then leave it without water for weeks.

“Even more so with prayer. We cannot live only on strong moments of prayer or occasional intense encounters, and then ‘go into hibernation.’ Our faith will dry up. We need the daily water of prayer, we need time dedicated to God, so that he can enter our time, into our lives; consistent moments in which we open our hearts to him so that he can daily pour out on us love, peace, joy, strength, hope, thus nourishing our faith.”

Through prayer, God will pour out on us what nourishes our faith. And that faith itself will be like a spring of water that pours forth more prayer, which in turn strengthens faith more. Faith and prayer, prayer and faith: the two are intimately connected. If your faith is weak, there is an answer. Pray. Admit to God your need for him. Ask him to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. Will he be slow to answer you?