Our Gospel message comes to us today from the 11th chapter of Luke, beginning with the 1st verse.
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:1-13, NRSV)
All mighty God, we thank you for your word and the way that you in it revealed to us who you are and what you've done for us in Christ. Now as we open that word we pray that your spirit may be present, that all thoughts of worry or distraction may be removed and that the Spirit will allow us to hear your voice. And so, oh God, fill us with your spirit through the reading and proclamation of your word this day. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
“The Lord’s Prayer”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Where did you learn how to pray? Our parents may have taught us bedtime prayers, or said grace before meals. We’ve heard about prayer in Sunday school and sermons. Prayer has been demonstrated in worship services. We may have even taken a class on prayer (a class on prayer is offered at Christian Leaders Institute). For the most part, our knowledge of prayer has been obtained in bits and pieces.
Our spotty education on the subject of prayer often leaves us with questions such as, “Am I praying correctly?” “Is this too small to pray about?” and “My prayers never seem to be answered, does prayer really work?” We also end up with a chronic sense of guilt—prayer is one more Christian activity that we are not doing correctly and thus we are failing.
I will not be brash enough to say that I will answer all of your questions and teach you everything you need to know about prayer in one lesson. I do believe, however, that the gospel text has a great deal to teach us about prayer, and by the “Amen,” I hope that you will have been able to appropriate three perspectives on prayer that will enable you to grow and deepen your prayer life.
We start not with a passage of Scripture but with a comment on prayer by the author, Kathleen Norris. She writes, “Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine.” With this thought in mind, we turn to the text.
The very first lesson that Jesus teaches his disciples about prayer is to enter into God’s presence as a child going to his or her father. The Great Reformer Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, expands upon this image in his explanation of The Lord’s Prayer by saying that we should enter God’s presence with boldness assured that God longs to have us converse with him and desires to answer our prayers. All of this is to say that the essence of prayer is relationship.
Approaching God as Father means that no appointments are necessary. I remember a famous picture of President Kennedy conducting business in the Oval Office while his son, John John played around the desk. No one had access to the President of the United States like John John did. His access was based on relationship and not on position or job performance.
Approaching God as Father means that we come as we are. We don’t wait to “get right” with God, or to attain the correct position in life, or to cultivate the right attitude in our mind or in our spirit. We understand that God always welcomes us into His presence with open arms and a listening ear, and a heart that wants only the very best for us.
Knowing that God is our Father, means that nothing is to small for us to bring before God. God is interested in every area of our lives and is intimately involved in every aspect of our lives.
Prayer is more than a religious ritual. Prayer is more than a life ring to keep us afloat, or a stuffed animal to comfort us. Prayer is a relationship, and as a relationship, we do not ask for what we think we want, but we ask to be changed in ways we can’t imagine.
The first petitions of the Lord’s Prayer focus on God. We ask that God’s name would be holy, that God’s kingdom would come and that God’s will would be done. As we look out on the world today, we perhaps become even more emphatic with our requests. We have wars and the constant threat of terrorist activities. Our society seems to be decaying morally and ethically, and its social fabric is being torn. Popularly put, the world is going to hell in a hand basket. We hope that God will hear our prayer, and clean up the mess that the world has become.
Martin Luther has a powerful new perspective with these petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. He teaches that when we pray these petitions, we are asking God that they happen in our lives. God will answer our prayers and change the world one life at a time, and God will begin with us.
When we ask that God's name will be honored and kept holy, we are asking that we will live in such a way that our lives will honor God and glorify His name.
When we ask that God’s kingdom come, we are asking that God’s kingdom come to us and that we will live in God’s kingdom, here on earth, and experience the abundant life that is ours in that kingdom.
When we ask that God’s will be done on earth, we are asking that it will be done in our lives. We are committing ourselves to be disciples of Jesus Christ and to place His will above our will. Faithful obedience is our desire and goal. When His is our perspective, then prayer is more than asking for something that we need, it is asking to be changed in ways that we cannot imagine.
For many people, Jesus’ assurance that what we ask for we will receive, whatever we seek we will find, and whatever doors on which we knock will be opened is a guarantee that we will receive whatever we ask for.
We bring this guarantee before God frequently and demand to know why God hasn’t answered our prayers concerning the lottery, why our loved one wasn’t healed, or why our dream job was given to another (less deserving) person. We naturally assume that this guarantee focuses on our physical needs. If prayer is about relationships, perhaps this guarantee addresses our relationship with God. If being a disciple of Jesus Christ and our relationship with God are priorities in our lives, then we can ask anything and it will be done. We can also seek knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will find.
It is a difficult but important lesson for us to learn. God is not as concerned with our physical comfort as He is concerned with our relationship with Him. God longs for us to commit our lives to Him and trust that he will move in our lies and provide for whatever we need.
When we take on the perspective that prayer is not “Asking for what we think we need, but asking to be changed in ways that we cannot image,” powerful things can and will happen in our lives—and in our world.
Prayer is one of those skills that you cannot fully learn by reading a book. There comes a time when you have to put the book down and pray.
You have three new perspectives from which to view prayer and through which to grow in your prayer life. These new perspectives are to approach God as a father, realize that the answer to our petitions occurs in our lives, and that the guarantee deals with our relationship and discipleship with God.
These three simple ideas have the potential of enabling prayer to focus on relationships and be transforming in our lives.
Let us pray The Lord’s Prayer: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
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Scripture taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)® Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Sermon contributed by Rev. Kevin Ruffcorn.
In Jesus’ teaching on prayer, we learn that "prayer is not asking for what we think we need but asking to be changed in ways we can’t imagine."
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