Jul
Prayer
Genesis 18:20-32 Psalm 138 Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19) Luke 11:1-13
Prayer is surrounding us from every side this morning. It is prayer that is bold; it is prayer that is persistent; it is prayer that draws us closer to God.
We have just read of Jesus’ words of instruction on how we are to pray. The prayer we know as the Lord’s Prayer is from the very lips of Jesus himself. This, in itself, is a testimony to the power of the Christian message – the very words from our Savior’s lips passed down through two millenniums from Aramaic into the impeccable Greek in which Luke wrote his account of the Gospel, to be translated into the Latin of the early Church, then, at great risk to the reformist translator, into the vernacular languages of Germans and Englishmen of the 16th century, and then, with the passing centuries into every language of worshiping Christians all over the world.
We are to pray boldly: “Give us this day our daily bread.” “Forgive us our trespasses.” “Lead us not into temptation.” We are not even instructed to say “Please.”
Think of the boldness of Abraham whom the Lord chose to be our first patriarch – the model of righteousness. In our lesson from Genesis, Abraham stands before the Lord and speaks what we might consider the first prayer recorded in the Bible. Boldly, yet respectfully, Abraham questions the Lord’s planned destruction of Sodom as judgment for the wickedness of the city,
“Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
The Lord’s response to Abraham is a reflection of the Lord’s own sense of respect for the covenant they share. “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.” Abraham counters the Lord’s offer, meekly imploring the Lord not to become angry at his pleadings; he gains the Lord’s agreement not to destroy the city if 45 are found to be righteous. Suppose 40 are righteous? How about 30? Even 20? And finally, 10? Yes, if Abraham can find ten righteous people in Sodom, the Lord agrees to forgive the entire city for the sake of these ten righteous people. Abraham’s prayer to the Lord is meek, acknowledging his condition of dust and ashes, but bravely bold nonetheless as Abraham seems, step by timid step, to draw closer and closer to the Lord.
We draw closer, step-by-step, to the Lord as we follow Jesus’ instruction to ask, seek, and knock so that the door will be opened. These are not three separate actions – asking, seeking, knocking, but a process of drawing closer and closer. God doesn’t change; it is we who are changed by prayer. God is always near to us; it is through persistence in prayer that we draw ourselves closer to God. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When people pray, they have ceased to know themselves, and know only God whom they call upon.”[1] Our desires are reshaped into God’s desires as we delight in his will and walk in his ways.
Without prayer, we are much like a boat being tossed about at sea without any sense of direction. Recognizing the need to ask for direction, we begin to pray persistently; we begin to seek direction. Through persistence in prayer, we are guided to a secure spot where we can toss our anchor and begin to pull ourselves closer and closer to the safety of the shore. Persistently, we draw ourselves closer to the shoreline until we arrive at the door. We knock, the door opens, and we find ourselves in oneness with God.
We ask; and we continue to pray with persistence and our asking becomes seeking a clearer understanding of our relationship with our neighbor and with God – God, our creator and sustainer who wants only what is best for us. Seeking further, we knock; the door opens so that we cease to know ourselves separate from God. There is no “other,” we are united in relationship with God.
The great 20th century preacher George Buttrick sets up three scenarios concerning prayer: First, if God does not exist, and our lives are solitary and uncivilized and short, then prayer is a dead-ending exercise of self-deceit. Secondly, If God exists as some sort of clouded yet all-controlling force in our lives, then prayer would be a foolish empty expenditure of our energy. But, in the words of the Rev. Buttrick, “if God is in some deep and eternal sense like Jesus, friendship with Him is our first concern, worthiest art, best resource, and sublimest joy.”[2]
A stolen quote penned in my prayer book that I keep at my bedside reads: “Prayer is an encounter with our dearest love, a longing for intimacy rather than a listing of wants and needs.” There is an image planted in my mind of sitting face to face with Jesus, eye to eye. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that… You are sitting face to face with Jesus. Sit there in the silence and feel the warmth of his presence, note the compassion in his facial expression, see your own image reflected in his eyes. Do you see your pain there? He knows your pain. Do you see there the reflection of your joys? He knows your joys as well. He is your dearest love. He knows you; he knows your needs before you even know how to express them or ask his guidance in finding satisfaction for them…. Now, what will you say to him? What will he say to you?
Ask, seek, knock. The Lord honored his promise to Abraham. Jesus, in his instruction to his disciples, uses the analogy of a parent and child. None of us would give our own child a scorpion if he or she had asked for an egg. Wouldn’t, then, our all-knowing gracious and loving heavenly Father give to us according to our needs – in accordance with his promise to us? God wants only what is best for us. He came to us in the human nature of Jesus Christ to affirm his covenant with us.
Persistent prayer is not repetitive asking; it is a process of moving from asking, to seeking, to knocking at the door that is opened to us. Persistent prayer in not simply a listing of our wants, but a drawing closer into the fullness of God’s reign – the opening up of the Kingdom and our presence there beyond the opened door.
Be bold, be persistent to the point of recognizing your oneness with God, and don’t ever let anyone convince you that your particular prayer ritual is wrong. My Aunt Lorraine, God rest her soul, always reminded us that she prayed for each one of us every night. Some “wise theologians” would say that that is a useless “laundry list” of prayers. I strongly disagree. Aunt Lorraine could name all of her nieces and nephews, their spouses, and all our children. I loved knowing that she lifted my name to God every night by her bedside. There is a distinct warmth and closeness with those who pray for us and those for whom we pray. We draw closer to one another in this way, and drawing closer to one another is drawing closer to God.
Prayer, like faith, doesn’t have a right or wrong way, it is not quality or quantity. Just keep being faithful, and just keep praying. And, if or when praying is difficult, we are blessed with our Book of Common Prayer, which we like to say prays for us when we cannot pray for ourselves.
Be bold – as Abraham was bold. God can take it. Certainly, God prefers our rants and ravings to our distant silence.
Be persistent – ask, seek, knock.
Be united as one with God.
