The Mystery of Prayer, Sermon for July 29, 2007
Scripture: Luke 11:1-13
Today’s Gospel in Luke includes a less familiar version of the Lord’s prayer than the one in Mathew. The Matthew version is probably the original and is more polished, having seven petitions instead of just four that are in Luke. The missing words in Luke compared to Matthew are “Our …who art in heaven…Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…but deliver us from evil.” I want to share with you yet another version found in the Messenger by Eugene Petersen: “Father, /Reveal who you are. /Set the world right./Keep us alive with three square meals./ Keep us forgiven by you and forgiving others./ Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.”
I’ve certainly had my share of questions about prayer as I would guess all of you have had. There is a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown is kneeling beside his bed for prayer. Suddenly he stops and says to Lucy, "I think I’ve made a new theological discovery, a real breakthrough. If you hold your hands upside down, you get the opposite of what you pray for." Prayer is not magic. Or as another preacher[1] said, “Prayer must be more than an emergency magical lamp rubbed in a crisis.”
I would guess that many folks give up on prayer because they do not understand it. Much of what passes for prayer is superstitious, irrational and self-centered. Pray-ers ask for something very important such as don’t let their infant die. The infant dies, and they figure, why bother to pray. It doesn’t do any good.
This sermon is going to focus on what I believe about prayer. First of all, I believe that prayer is a way to have intimacy with God. When Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, it was not because they were unfamiliar with prayer. They were faithful Jews who had grown up praying. Our gospel reading starts with Jesus finishing praying while the disciples observed. I imagine that they observed in Jesus’ praying and in his talking to them and others, a real intimacy with God that they were not familiar with. Remember Jesus called God “Abba”, a word most closely translated into our English as “Daddy”. Jesus goes on to give an example of how God’s listening and answering prayer is like the love of a parent who would give only good things to his/her child. This is the kind of intimacy that we can trust; we can talk to God and knows that God is listening. We don’t have to leave anything out. We can express all our concerns, our fears, our angers, our grief, our doubts and know that God hears. So prayer, first of all for me, is intimacy with God, getting to know God and be known by God, a God who loves us unconditionally.
I believe that prayer is not a way to escape from the world, but is a way to help us live more fully in the world in a manner that Jesus taught us. For me prayer and action go together. Doing good deeds without praying, getting connected and nourished by the Source of all will soon lead to burn out. Action without praying can be dangerous as we may begin to think we are in charge; that it all depends on us instead of that higher power that is in and around us, or as Paul quoted in Acts says, “God is the one in whom we live and move and have our being.” On the other hand if we pray and do not engage in action to transform/heal/bring peace and justice for all, we are like a clanging cymbal, signifying nothing.
I believe that prayer is heard by God. Sometimes it’s hard to see the answer to prayer in the moment. Looking back on my life, I felt a strong guidance from God directing me to ordained ministry. During that long dark night of the soul I’ve often referred to, it did not seem like God was answering my prayers. I couldn’t find a church or a minister that seemed to fit my needs; I was lonely and my marriage was shaky. Yet I believe now that was a period of learning to trust God and gaining confidence in my ability to be a minister. Other times I have felt an answer to prayer in the present as when I was praying for my mother on the other side of the country and a vision came to me very strongly that I was to move from CA to Maine to be with her in her final years. I fought the decision as I didn’t want to go; however, the more I prayed and discussed the decision with family the more I felt God was calling me there. So, yes I believe that God listens to our prayers. Lots of times I’m upset when I feel God is not answering my prayers. But I wonder if maybe it’s just that I don’t like the answer. Maybe one of things that happens in prayer is that we become what we pray for. For example, if we pray for peace, we become more of a peace pilgrim, doing those things that will create peace near and far. Another example would be as we pray for healing and other healthy things for ourselves or others, our heart becomes more filled with compassion.
Those of you that have been listening to me preach for a while know that I very much like the ideas of Marcus Borg, who believes in a panentheistic God, not an interventionist God that is out there somewhere and comes when we call. Rather than God being a person-like being out there, he believes in God as the encompassing spirit in whom everything that is, is. This God is not out there, but right here all around us. Another way Borg describes this God is not only “right here”, but also “more than right here”.[2] He sees God as a presence beneath and within our everyday lives. In this light, Borg doesn’t believe that God intervenes as in answering prayer. How could God intervene for some and not for others? This belief really messed up my intercessory prayers for a while.
Borg, in spite of this belief, continues to daily pray intercessory and petitionary prayers. He says this kind of praying feels like a natural form of caring; he also recognizes that there is some evidence for the efficacy of prayers in healing. The biggest reason he continues his praying is for the intimacy that praying gives him with God. He says that ideally the whole of verbal prayer is about intimacy. How and if prayer works in other ways, Borg admits to just not knowing.
Joan Chittester has similar views to Borg’s concept of God. She talks about how the old definition of prayer as “the raising of our hearts and minds to God misrepresents God as some distant judge outside ourselves.” She says that “science, with its new perception that matter and spirit are of a piece, sometimes particles, sometimes energy, assures us that God is not out there on a cloud somewhere, imperious and suspecting. God is the very energy that animates us. God is the spirit that leads us and drives us on. God is the voice within us calling us to life. God is the reality trying to come to fullness within us, both individually and together. It is to that cosmic God, that personal, inner, enkindling God, that we pray.”[3]
The last part of our gospel has those well known and often quoted words, “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.” (Vv. 9-10) Some of you may be familiar with The Secret, a film and a book written on the premise that we bring to ourselves whatever we think about or ask for. I recently read the book, and they quote this ask/search/knock passage of Jesus as being an example of what they are holding up. I have a lot of questions about this theory; however, I know in my own life if I have filled my mind with worry and anxiety, often what I worry about comes true. An example is a couple of years ago when I went to CA I rented a brand new, shiny white vehicle. I was so worried that someone would hit up against it and I would be held responsible. Not only did two bruises appear on the car, but I ended up having an accident with my being at fault. This illustration certainly illustrates their law of attraction or thinking makes it so. As I looked more carefully at this part of our scripture, I realize that Jesus does not say that we will receive whatever requested; instead he says how much more does God give good gifts to his children. I think it’s dangerous when we take this as a blank check on which we can write anything our hearts desire. Jesus does say in the next chapter of Luke, “Do not be anxious, seek first God’s kingdom and these things such as clothing and shelter shall be yours as well.” Another way of looking at this is that God also asks, seeks, and knocks. Prayer is effective not because of us but because God’s nature is like a Parent who loves his own and wants to give good gifts. Another way of looking at prayer is that when we bring our concerns for ourselves or others to God’s love in faith, that is prayer.
My last point about prayer is that I believe prayer is a mystery. Prayer often surprises us. We think we have it all figured out and then something new and different emerges. Prayer is a conversation with the living God during which we may clarify and sometimes change our hopes and plans. It’s hard to listen in prayer. Most of us are so use to talking, it’s hard to be in a prayerful silence. I believe that Jesus taught us by the Lord’s prayer that it is very important for us to ask that we help God bring about God’s kingdom. Bishop William Willimon made the observation that most churches have a time of Joys and Concerns before prayer time in worship. He says that most of the concerns are about various people going through health problems. He refers to it as “Sick Call”. He points out that none of this is in the Lord’s prayer. As followers of Jesus, he suggests we talk to God about what Jesus talks about when he prays: the coming of God’s kingdom, for daily bread, and for forgiveness. As Christians, we are in life long training about how to pray as Jesus taught us. It’s not as simple as it seems. Yet the Holy Spirit is with us just as Jesus promised. Paul also assures us that when we have trouble praying, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with “sighs too deep for words. Yes, prayer is a mystery; we do not know how it works, but I feel confidant that the “Still Speaking God” knows what we are praying for and even answers us, although in ways that are not easily understood or made sense of. Thanks be to God! My prayer is that we continue to encourage each other to be a people of prayer and faith. Amen and amen.
[1] eSermons for July 29, 2007
[2] The Heart of Christianity, p. 66
[3] “Contemplation in the Midst of Chaos”, on 30 Good Minutes online.
Today’s Gospel in Luke includes a less familiar version of the Lord’s prayer than the one in Mathew. The Matthew version is probably the original and is more polished, having seven petitions instead of just four that are in Luke. The missing words in Luke compared to Matthew are “Our …who art in heaven…Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…but deliver us from evil.” I want to share with you yet another version found in the Messenger by Eugene Petersen: “Father, /Reveal who you are. /Set the world right./Keep us alive with three square meals./ Keep us forgiven by you and forgiving others./ Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.”
I’ve certainly had my share of questions about prayer as I would guess all of you have had. There is a Peanuts cartoon where Charlie Brown is kneeling beside his bed for prayer. Suddenly he stops and says to Lucy, "I think I’ve made a new theological discovery, a real breakthrough. If you hold your hands upside down, you get the opposite of what you pray for." Prayer is not magic. Or as another preacher[1] said, “Prayer must be more than an emergency magical lamp rubbed in a crisis.”
I would guess that many folks give up on prayer because they do not understand it. Much of what passes for prayer is superstitious, irrational and self-centered. Pray-ers ask for something very important such as don’t let their infant die. The infant dies, and they figure, why bother to pray. It doesn’t do any good.
This sermon is going to focus on what I believe about prayer. First of all, I believe that prayer is a way to have intimacy with God. When Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, it was not because they were unfamiliar with prayer. They were faithful Jews who had grown up praying. Our gospel reading starts with Jesus finishing praying while the disciples observed. I imagine that they observed in Jesus’ praying and in his talking to them and others, a real intimacy with God that they were not familiar with. Remember Jesus called God “Abba”, a word most closely translated into our English as “Daddy”. Jesus goes on to give an example of how God’s listening and answering prayer is like the love of a parent who would give only good things to his/her child. This is the kind of intimacy that we can trust; we can talk to God and knows that God is listening. We don’t have to leave anything out. We can express all our concerns, our fears, our angers, our grief, our doubts and know that God hears. So prayer, first of all for me, is intimacy with God, getting to know God and be known by God, a God who loves us unconditionally.
I believe that prayer is not a way to escape from the world, but is a way to help us live more fully in the world in a manner that Jesus taught us. For me prayer and action go together. Doing good deeds without praying, getting connected and nourished by the Source of all will soon lead to burn out. Action without praying can be dangerous as we may begin to think we are in charge; that it all depends on us instead of that higher power that is in and around us, or as Paul quoted in Acts says, “God is the one in whom we live and move and have our being.” On the other hand if we pray and do not engage in action to transform/heal/bring peace and justice for all, we are like a clanging cymbal, signifying nothing.
I believe that prayer is heard by God. Sometimes it’s hard to see the answer to prayer in the moment. Looking back on my life, I felt a strong guidance from God directing me to ordained ministry. During that long dark night of the soul I’ve often referred to, it did not seem like God was answering my prayers. I couldn’t find a church or a minister that seemed to fit my needs; I was lonely and my marriage was shaky. Yet I believe now that was a period of learning to trust God and gaining confidence in my ability to be a minister. Other times I have felt an answer to prayer in the present as when I was praying for my mother on the other side of the country and a vision came to me very strongly that I was to move from CA to Maine to be with her in her final years. I fought the decision as I didn’t want to go; however, the more I prayed and discussed the decision with family the more I felt God was calling me there. So, yes I believe that God listens to our prayers. Lots of times I’m upset when I feel God is not answering my prayers. But I wonder if maybe it’s just that I don’t like the answer. Maybe one of things that happens in prayer is that we become what we pray for. For example, if we pray for peace, we become more of a peace pilgrim, doing those things that will create peace near and far. Another example would be as we pray for healing and other healthy things for ourselves or others, our heart becomes more filled with compassion.
Those of you that have been listening to me preach for a while know that I very much like the ideas of Marcus Borg, who believes in a panentheistic God, not an interventionist God that is out there somewhere and comes when we call. Rather than God being a person-like being out there, he believes in God as the encompassing spirit in whom everything that is, is. This God is not out there, but right here all around us. Another way Borg describes this God is not only “right here”, but also “more than right here”.[2] He sees God as a presence beneath and within our everyday lives. In this light, Borg doesn’t believe that God intervenes as in answering prayer. How could God intervene for some and not for others? This belief really messed up my intercessory prayers for a while.
Borg, in spite of this belief, continues to daily pray intercessory and petitionary prayers. He says this kind of praying feels like a natural form of caring; he also recognizes that there is some evidence for the efficacy of prayers in healing. The biggest reason he continues his praying is for the intimacy that praying gives him with God. He says that ideally the whole of verbal prayer is about intimacy. How and if prayer works in other ways, Borg admits to just not knowing.
Joan Chittester has similar views to Borg’s concept of God. She talks about how the old definition of prayer as “the raising of our hearts and minds to God misrepresents God as some distant judge outside ourselves.” She says that “science, with its new perception that matter and spirit are of a piece, sometimes particles, sometimes energy, assures us that God is not out there on a cloud somewhere, imperious and suspecting. God is the very energy that animates us. God is the spirit that leads us and drives us on. God is the voice within us calling us to life. God is the reality trying to come to fullness within us, both individually and together. It is to that cosmic God, that personal, inner, enkindling God, that we pray.”[3]
The last part of our gospel has those well known and often quoted words, “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.” (Vv. 9-10) Some of you may be familiar with The Secret, a film and a book written on the premise that we bring to ourselves whatever we think about or ask for. I recently read the book, and they quote this ask/search/knock passage of Jesus as being an example of what they are holding up. I have a lot of questions about this theory; however, I know in my own life if I have filled my mind with worry and anxiety, often what I worry about comes true. An example is a couple of years ago when I went to CA I rented a brand new, shiny white vehicle. I was so worried that someone would hit up against it and I would be held responsible. Not only did two bruises appear on the car, but I ended up having an accident with my being at fault. This illustration certainly illustrates their law of attraction or thinking makes it so. As I looked more carefully at this part of our scripture, I realize that Jesus does not say that we will receive whatever requested; instead he says how much more does God give good gifts to his children. I think it’s dangerous when we take this as a blank check on which we can write anything our hearts desire. Jesus does say in the next chapter of Luke, “Do not be anxious, seek first God’s kingdom and these things such as clothing and shelter shall be yours as well.” Another way of looking at this is that God also asks, seeks, and knocks. Prayer is effective not because of us but because God’s nature is like a Parent who loves his own and wants to give good gifts. Another way of looking at prayer is that when we bring our concerns for ourselves or others to God’s love in faith, that is prayer.
My last point about prayer is that I believe prayer is a mystery. Prayer often surprises us. We think we have it all figured out and then something new and different emerges. Prayer is a conversation with the living God during which we may clarify and sometimes change our hopes and plans. It’s hard to listen in prayer. Most of us are so use to talking, it’s hard to be in a prayerful silence. I believe that Jesus taught us by the Lord’s prayer that it is very important for us to ask that we help God bring about God’s kingdom. Bishop William Willimon made the observation that most churches have a time of Joys and Concerns before prayer time in worship. He says that most of the concerns are about various people going through health problems. He refers to it as “Sick Call”. He points out that none of this is in the Lord’s prayer. As followers of Jesus, he suggests we talk to God about what Jesus talks about when he prays: the coming of God’s kingdom, for daily bread, and for forgiveness. As Christians, we are in life long training about how to pray as Jesus taught us. It’s not as simple as it seems. Yet the Holy Spirit is with us just as Jesus promised. Paul also assures us that when we have trouble praying, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with “sighs too deep for words. Yes, prayer is a mystery; we do not know how it works, but I feel confidant that the “Still Speaking God” knows what we are praying for and even answers us, although in ways that are not easily understood or made sense of. Thanks be to God! My prayer is that we continue to encourage each other to be a people of prayer and faith. Amen and amen.
[1] eSermons for July 29, 2007
[2] The Heart of Christianity, p. 66
[3] “Contemplation in the Midst of Chaos”, on 30 Good Minutes online.
posted by Sermons given at Deering Community Church @ 1:26 PM
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