Texts: Luke; 11:1-13 Romans 8:26-39
In a small Texas town, a new bar/tavern started a building to open up their business. The local Baptist church started a campaign of petitions and prayers to block the bar from opening.
Work progressed, however right up till the week before opening, when a lightning strike hit the bar and it burned to the ground.
The church folks were rather smug in their outlook after that, till the bar owner sued the church on the grounds that the church was ultimately responsible for the demise of his building, either through direct or indirect actions or means. The church vehemently denied all responsibility or any connection to the building's demise in its reply to the court.
As the case made its way into court, the judge looked over the paperwork. At the hearing he commented, 'I don't know how I'm going to decide this, but as it appears from the paperwork, we have a bar owner who believes in the power of prayer, and an entire church congregation that doesn't.'
I am sure that not everyone at Madison Square PC is comfortable about their prayer life, or that even those of you who pray, won’t find ways to expand your understanding and repertoire of prayer. The point to this sermon is to help everyone feel good about growing stronger in your use of prayer as a part of your life of faith.
In this morning’s reading, Paul says this:
ROM 8:26-27: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit itself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And God who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
Paul is telling us God even helps us pray when words fail us; God helps us pray when we don't know how; God helps us pray when prayer is far from our lips.
Paul is affirming that since the Christian has become part of the body of Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit is active in each of us. At some point in our faith journey we have made the affirmation that we will reorient our lives to become Christ centered instead of self Centered. Maybe it was at baptism, or at confirmation, or when we joined the church, or at some other turning point in life that we took seriously the acceptance of God as the center of our life. That change, that turn-around from self-centeredness to Christ-centeredness is what makes the difference in how we pray, and how the Holy Spirit prompts us in our praying.
So, Paul’s affirmation is that the Spirit of God that dwells within us touches our spirit and leads us to pray even before we know what to say, or form the prayers on our lips. The Holy Spirit prompts us in our prayers.
So, now that I have told you that your prayers to God are prompted by God, how does that help you pray, even when you don’t know how?
1. Prayer is about Loving.
When you talk about prayer, or think about prayer, imagine a frame around the picture of that talk. The frame around prayer is love. Prayer is lover’s talking to each other. The poet Samuel Coleridge in his poem, the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," says "He prayeth well, who loveth well." Effective pray-ers are effective lovers. We are not talking about prayer as a duty, as an obligation, as something we do only when our back is forced against the wall. Praying comes from falling in love.
God first loved us--that is why The Spirit of God initiates the communication within us. That is why God's Spirit works its way into us, and wraps itself around our own Spirit. "
God loves us. That is why God's Spirit is within you saying "speak to me. Talk to me. Don't think you have to go it alone. I love you. Let’s talk." Prayer is the singing of love songs between God and ourselves. And the more we pray our love song, the deeper the love grows. How many couples do you know who love each other but never speak? Or, how many people do you know who fall in love with each other, never having spoken a word to each other. Neither happens. Maybe you find yourself in the position of not feeling either loved by God, or loving God. Well, the love won’t emerge without talking, without prayer. Talking to God and Listening for God is part of the courtship. Prayer is the way you fall in love. And prayer is the way lovers stay in love.
For a lot of people, God is not their lover, but their butler. Most prayer is telling God what to do for them, or asking for God to help them with their agenda. God is the great butler—and prayer is a long, “gimme, gimme, gimme.” This relationship doesn’t last very long.
Previously, I have quoted a remarkable 17th century monk, Brother Lawrence, who wrote beautifully about the loving way we can relate to God, and how to pray. Let us look at what he said,
It is not necessary to be always in church to be with God, we can make a private chapel of our heart where we can retire from time to time to commune with God, peacefully, humbly, lovingly; everyone is capable of these intimate conversations with God, some more, others less; God knows what we can do. Let us begin—perhaps God is only waiting for a a single generous resolution from us…Become accustomed then little by little to adore God in this way: demand of Him His grace; offer Him your heart from time to time during the day in the midst of your work…do not burden yourself with rules or particular devotions, but act with faith, love and humility.
You see, you and God can be lovers who talk to one another frequently throughout the day.
2. Pray as you can, not as you can’t.
You don't have to change anything. You don't have to learn anything. You don't have to be someone else. You don't have to "get right with God" first. Pray as you can.
Begin where you are, for God already knows where you are, and accepts you for who you are. Nothing else has to happen first. There is no such thing as a bad prayer. Any words will do.
Ann LaMott in her book, Traveling Mercies, speaks about prayer when she had a problem with her son. She says she sat down beside the river ,
I prayed to know what to do, and I kept thinking I was hearing an answer, but it was like a one-woman ping pong game; I decided yes, and I decided no and so on. I decided I was getting crazier every passing moment. So I called some friends. Half said yes, and half said no. But all the ones who believed in God told me to pray. So I did. Here are the two best prayers I know: “Help me, help me, help me.” And “thank you, thank you, thank you.” A woman I know says, for her morning prayer, “Whatever.” And then in the evening, “Oh, well.”
Are you angry. Tell it to God. Be angry, Shake your fist. Are you sad, worried, panicked, lost--tell it to God. Speak to God as you speak to a lover. Let your self be in God's presence just as you are. There is no point in pretending, because God knows what you are trying to hide if you pretend. So, let your prayers reflect who you are. Psalms 13,22, others; one third of Psalms are Laments--
Pray about your feelings, your needs for yourself, your needs for others, your joys, your concerns, your failings, and your consistent failures. In this form of simple prayer, the good, the bad and the ugly are all mixed up together. . In other words, in prayer, you will learn how to let it all hang out. God is ready. After all, God loves you.
You already know that communication leads to intimacy. And that is true with prayer. It is hard to be close to God in Christ without communication. Most people find their lives become rich when they open up the communication with the Christ within themselves
3. Silence is part of prayer. Prayer is about speaking to God, and listening for God to speak to you. Silence makes listening possible. If you don't know what to think or say, be still. Be quiet. The Psalmist said, "Be still, and know that I am God." Let the silence be your prayer. Let the arms of God be wrapped around you in comfortable silence--and just be there. In the silence you can listen for God to speak. Silence in prayer is okay. A lot happens in the silence of prayer. If you come to God and pray with words, then spend at least as much time or more listening in silence. In fact, I have found that often in silence I hear nothing. But amazingly, later in the day or week, I hear the very thing I was praying for or about on the lips of someone. God spoke not in the silence, but the silence made me ready to hear God in the words of someone.
4. For Presbyterians Private Prayer is always apart of our corporate prayer as the body of Christ., That is, what we do here together in prayer and worship is the model and basis for what we do privately in prayer and worship.
Let me end with a few comments and suggestions about prayer here at Madison Square Presbyterian Church.
a. Look at your morning order of worship. Notice on the first page that we pray the “Confession”. In Presbyterian worship we will always begin with bringing praise and thanksgiving to God—usually by singing. Then we will offer a prayer called “Confession”. In many churches is is called “Confession of Sin.” But I am one who sees it more as a confession of “who God is and who we are”. Therefore, while I am here, our prayer of confession will always start with some kind of acknowledgment of God’s Grace and Goodness, or gratitude for blessings, and that we are the forgiven children of God in whom God delights. Our relationship is wonderful, and intimate. Then, there will be a “yet” or “but” in which we speak to God of the difficulties of life and the trials we have to bear—we state our failings, or our brokenness, or our weakness. You get the picture. “Great to be home Papa…but I wrecked the car this week.”
Our prayer of confession is then followed by an “Assurance of Grace”. The promise is given of God’s grace healing our broken lives, mending our hearts, forgiving us, and making whole again. Some churches call this “assurance of pardon.” The word “pardon” is a bit narrow and doesn’t convey what I think is given to us in this wonderful act of restoring us to our fullness as “a new creation in Christ.”
b. Corporate prayer is about each of us, but not only about each of us. It is about all of us; we pray on behalf of all of humanity—this is “our prayer” of the brokenness of human relationships of all of us around the world. It is me. But not just me for I am a part of all of humanity—and they are a part of me. I ask forgiveness for me, but not just for me, but for all; peace and wholeness are given to me; but these are the gifts I ask for all of humanity. I cannot separate myself from all the rest of humanity as broken in need of wholeness. So prayer is corporate.
The pattern was set by Jesus. The Lord’s prayer begins with ”our Father” and every pronoun in it is plural. So, the pattern of prayer is found in the worshipping community every Sunday morning as we pray together. It is never just about me, but always our prayer is about all of us.
A Grandfather passed his granddaughter's room one night and overheard her repeating the letters of the alphabet in a strange and reverent way. He stopped and listened, then asked her, "What are you doing?" She said, "I'm saying my prayers, but I can't think of the right words tonight, so I'm just saying the letters. God will put them together for me, because he knows what I'm thinking."
That's pretty good--and that little girl said just what Paul wrote to the church in Rome. When we don't know what to pray for, or how, the Spirit intercedes on our behalf--and prays the prayer we don't yet know.
Luke 11:1-13
11He 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.’ 2He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.’
5 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; 6for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” 7And 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.” 8I 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.
9 ‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13If 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!’
Romans 8:26-27 The Message
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
