7th Sunday after Trinity – Sermon 19
Prayer to start
May every thought and every word be graciously received for the Glory and honour of our Lord Jesus Christ
AMEN
Introduction
After Jesus had been praying one of His disciples said ” “Lord teach us to pray”
How often have we echoed those same words when we have sat or knelt down to pray – prayer is one of the most natural of human instincts and an essential part of Christian life and experience – and yet most of us at some time or other find it difficult to undertake and sustain – like the disciples – we often find ourselves – feeling inadequate – and needing help- sometimes we are not sure what words to use – or how to say them – how often we should pray for the same thing or the same person – or whether we are praying for the right things – whether God answers all our prayers – or just some of them ?
In our Gospel reading – it was seeing the prayer life of Jesus that led the disciples to ask for teaching in prayer – we are going to look at Jesus’ teaching to see how it can help us in our prayer life today
Point 1
Luke’s Gospel is sometimes described as the “Gospel of prayer” – because of its many references to Jesus at prayer –
Luke shows Jesus praying before all the great moments in His life – His Baptism – the choosing of the Disciples – the transfiguration – the last Supper – at Gethsemane – while He was hung on a cross-
Jesus also liked to pray regularly, early in the morning and at night when He was alone – sometimes He prayed in the midst of a crowd – and sometimes in front of His disciples – as in our Gospel reading
It was the custom for Rabbi’s to teach their disciples a simple prayer – as John had done for his disciples – one they could learn and use regularly –
Jesus’ response to the disciples request was the prayer – we know as the Lord’s prayer – the words He used were simple and concise – and He ordered them in a special way – giving us a perfect model or framework to follow when we pray
Jesus begins with God – referring to Him as “Father” – to show that our prayers must be entered upon in a child like trust – the same intimacy and confidence that a little child uses when talking to his or her father – that child/ father relationship with God that Jesus made possible by His sacrifice for us on the cross
“may your name be hallowed” – before anything is asked for ourselves or others we must first give God His proper place – We have to remember who we are talking to – How many of us would consider it an honour to meet with the Queen – yet we sometimes forget – because He is always ready to listen to us – how privileged we are to be able to talk directly to our Lord and Creator –
“Your kingdom come” – We must invite God’s power to come into our situation – as Jesus said “Not my will Father, but yours” – Hear from Him first – let His word speak through our lips back to Him – calling God’s attention to His own promises
“Give us each day our daily bread” – Our prayers are to cover all life – our present needs whatever they are – and the needs of those around us – the ordinary things – anything for which we feel it is right to ask God – especially the problems we cannot share with others –
“forgive us our sins, as we forgive all who have done us wrong” – we cannot do any other than pray for forgiveness – forgiveness is the first of God’s gifts to us through Jesus – and its our first duty – to forgive those around us – Jesus here speaks of daily forgiveness which is necessary to restore broken communion with God
“And put us not to the test” – we know our weaknesses – and the world around us and we have to pray to be delivered and given victory over them – not just the black and white areas – for which we can see an obvious right or wrong situation – but also those grey areas – that sometimes catch us out –
Point 2
Having told them how to pray – Jesus then talked about the way in which we should pray
He told His disciples a parable about a man who had an unexpected guest at midnight and went to borrow some bread from a friend – the man would not be put off when His friend said he was in bed and would not get it for Him – The man kept on knocking until he got what he wanted
Travellers often travelled late in the evening to avoid the mid day sun – and it was an important part of the Jewish custom to offer full hospitality – it wasn’t just a case of nipping round and getting whatever bread he could find – it had to be fresh bread – The closed door meant that his friend had gone to bed – and asleep in his one room house would be his wife, family, chickens, goats and all his other livestock – so getting up and providing fresh bread wasn’t an easy task
but like the man who needed three loaves – we have to be bold – and keep on knocking – Jesus tells us its our level of urgency that counts – we must pray with great urgency – and intensity – we’ve got to be persistent – we need to be stickers – and not be put off by the situation or the excuses of those around us –
we’ve all heard them : –
There’s no need to keep praying for Mrs. so and so – she’s not going to get any better than she is –
or – you’ll never convince Mr. what’s his name to come to church – He’s too set in his ways –
There is a story told about Mrs. Wesley, the mother of 18 children including Charles and John Wesley the great reformers – who persisted in prayer – she worked day and night to care for her children’s needs but always found time for prayer – since she would rarely go away from the house and leave her small children- she had to find a place of inner quietness within her own home – so she would sit at the kitchen table with her apron over her head and pray for hours – and when the children saw the apron they knew they were not to disturb her
prayer is the highest of all privileges – a means by which we get to know the Almighty God – through intimate personal conversation – the Bible tells us to “pray always” – despite the many distractions around us – and in order to learn to pray we have to practice it – and make a persistent effort to spend time with God
As Jesus says in verse 9
“Ask and it shall be given to you – seek and you shall find – knock and the door will be opened to you”
We have to pray knowing all doors are open – God’s unclosed door of prayer should be one of the most precious doors in the world to us –
We should pray as a channel not as a bucket – pray that we may be put in a position to help others – the bread was for the traveller not for the man knocking on his friends door
Prayer must be specific – targeted on the needs of the situation – we can do better than ask God to “bless the world” – there is no risks involved – the vagueness of the prayer rules out the need for faith – we need to make our prayers “faith sized” – pray for what we can imagine happening – if we don’t believe that God can save the person sitting next to us – then we shouldn’t pray for them – we need to believe that He can do it –
Point 3
but if we should be more like the man knocking on the door – does it mean God is like the grumpy friend who won’t answer the door unless He has to?
Of course not
– As Jesus says in verse 10 –
“For everyone who asks receives, those who seek find, and those who knock – the door will be opened”
God is eager to respond to us – He wants us to be bold and look for the answers to our problems -through Him – All prayer begins from the fact that God is even more ready to listen than we are to speak – even more ready to give than we are to ask
Prayer is not about breaking down God’s reluctance – its about taking hold of His willingness – Jesus contrasts the unwilling householder with the loving Father who supplies all His children’s needs – Our Father welcomes our cries from the heart – but prayer is not a kind of magic lamp where we rub it and up pops an angel ready to follow our every command – God doesn’t say yes to prayer requests – every time – He may say wait – He may also say no – because its bad for us –
Like the rolled up scorpion that looks like an egg – to us it may look desirable – but God knows it would be potentially disastrous for us –
Our Father responds in the way that will benefit our ultimate good – He grants us all our needs but not our greeds – If we don’t receive what we pray for – its because He has something better for us – there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer – the answer given may not be the answer we want or expect – and even when it is a refusal of our wishes – it is sti
ll the answer of love and wisdom of God
Jesus promises the Holy Spirit – the greatest gift that we can ever receive – the Holy Spirit brings the power – wisdom – and care of God – it is prayer, which the Spirit inspires, that God answers – and when we receive the Holy Spirit our prayers and our lives are transformed
Conclusions
If like the disciples – we feel that our prayer life needs placing on a firmer footing – then what better foundation can there be than to follow the teaching of Jesus –
The secret of prayer is knowing what Jesus would ask the Father if He were in our shoes – He has given us a model to use – in prayer and in life and as His body we must follow it and encourage others to follow it –
In our own church we have a prayer table, prayer groups and a prayer pyramid – in November there will be a special course called ” Explorations in prayer” run by the Diocese – and there will be a group meeting at Lymm – please consider it if you are interested in developing your prayer life – leaflets are at the back of church –
Jesus invites us to pray great prayers but this involves walking close to Him – hearing His voice -that His desires become our desires – we need to keep on praying – we also must pray the will of God – When we know we are praying as Jesus prays – then we know we will be heard –
To pray great prayers we need to learn from a great teacher – and there can be none greater than God Himself –
Prayer to finish
In the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit
AMEN