TEACH US TO PRAY
Sunday, July 24, 2022
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
Luke 11:1-13
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 to 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!’
I struggle with prayer. I do it in great fits and starts – sort of like exercise or a new diet. But like exercise or a diet, when I pray, I am easily bored; easily distracted, never quite sure if it’s having the intended result.
I very often feel conflicted about this because, as a child, I was surrounded by prayer. My whole family prayed – a lot. My paternal great grandmother used to spend hours on her knees in prayer every day –despite her severe arthritis. My grandmother, with a flair for the dramatic, would sometimes take on the air of an Old Testament prophet when she repented of her sins, dressing in tattered clothes and letting her hair fall down around her face as a sign of her sorrow. My parents were and are a little tamer than that, but they are still serious pray-ers - remembering me and Marcos and this church every day – without fail. And when the people in my family pray, they actually believe that God answers prayers in ways that are observable and verifiable.
As a young adult, I too prayed often and earnestly. I used to carry around a list of people in my wallet - dozens of names – that I prayed for every day. And I kept a record of when those prayers were answered – and dutifully moved those names from the “needs list” to the “thanksgivings list.”
But over time, I found that these intense daily prayers often felt one-sided. And then one day, I had the most uncomfortable realization that most of my praying was really about me trying to convince the Almighty to do what I thought best. And that sort of made me God, if you think about it. But God is God and I am not. And that stark discovery left me without a reason or a way to pray.
One day Jesus was praying, as he often did. And maybe his disciples, for all their good intentions, were like so many of us - not quite sure about how to do it. And so, they asked the Teacher to teach them how to pray.
And here we should pause for just a moment because there is in some American Protestant piety this notion that one should automatically know how to pray. When I was a child, I was told: “It’s just like having a conversation with a friend.” Well, there is some truth to that – with this glaring exception: none of my friends are not invisible. And all of my friends have something to say in return. So, in that way, prayer is not just like having a conversation with a friend. And that means that most of us need to learn how to do it. Which begs the question: why isn’t the church teaching God’s people how to pray?
So, Jesus taught his friends how to do it, using words we now call the Lord’s Prayer. And this prayer - which is a model, not an idol - contains the essential building blocks of prayer: praise – that is, acknowledging the greatness of God; petition – asking for what we need; and confession – naming our failings and asking for forgiveness and a new beginning.
Perhaps you noticed that Luke doesn’t have our beloved ending: “For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” He doesn’t have it because those words are not in the most reliable and ancient manuscripts. They were likely added, centuries later, by monks who didn’t like Jesus’s abrupt ending. But we like it and we’re not about to get rid of it now!
And then Jesus told them a parable about being persistent in the practice of prayer. And here is where I should really pay attention, since persistence is where I struggle. And Jesus ends the parable with these memorable 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.”
And that, at first glance, seems like an invitation to ask for anything, as if God is some sort of Santa Claus, dispensing wishes to those who are persistent and haven’t been too naughty. And that, I suspect, is how many folks actually think of prayer. It’s a reward system for being good. And you have to keep at it. -- But if that is your understanding of prayer, then when you are in real need - and you don’t get what you ask for - then the logical conclusion is that God is capricious and temperamental… or maybe even cruel.
Over the course of many years of ministry, these uneven ways in which prayers seem to be answered bring more people to my office than most anything else. Think about it: we pray for those we love – and some people get well; but many don’t. Some poverty is relieved; most isn’t. God seems to favor one part of the world over another. And that process of asking and waiting and hoping and being disappointed over and over again just keeps swelling the ranks of those who have given up on the church and God.
But a careful examination of this passage leads us to very different conclusion about the aim and purpose of prayer. Because these verses do not end with a promise that if you are good, and persistent, then God will give you anything you ask for. Instead, what Jesus said was, “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!”
When we pray, what we are promised is what we actually need – the presence of God. The answer to every prayer is more of God – deeper understanding, further revelation, intimacy, belonging, and ultimately a deep, deep peace. That does not mean that we cannot ask God for what we need or others need. After all, the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to ask for our daily bread. But the measure of an answered prayer is a deeper communion with the One to whom we pray.
And that kind of connection doesn’t always need a lot of words. In the early church, a contemplative name Macarius the Great, was asked how to pray. He replied: "There is no need at all to make long discourses. It is enough to stretch out one's hands and say, 'Lord, as you will, and as you know, have mercy.” And if the conflict grows fiercer,” Macarius continued,” say, 'Lord, help!' In modern times, another contemplative, the writer Anne Lamott, has said that all prayer can be boiled down to these three essential words: “Help!” “Thanks!” “Wow!”
And then, sometimes, words are superfluous to prayer. Prayer is like the silence between lovers – full of meaning. It is intention, attitude, yearning, desire, tears, laughter, music - or even breath.
A wise rabbi once said that the Jewish name for God – Yahweh – is not spoken, but breathed. Its correct pronunciation is an attempt to imitate the sound of inhalation and exhalation.” (Yah – weh, Yah –weh…) -- And if that is true, then with every breath, we are saying the divine name. And if that is true, then with every breath, we are, as St. Paul put it, “praying without ceasing.” And if that is true, then as we emerge from our mother’s wombs, we are praying. And as we die, our very last act will be a prayer.
Lord, teach us to pray. And the Lord replied: take a breath. In - Out. Live - Love. Laugh - Cry. Believe - Doubt. Strive - Rest. Breathe - Pray. Pray. Pray…
Sunday, July 24, 2022
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
Luke 11:1-13
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 to 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!’
I struggle with prayer. I do it in great fits and starts – sort of like exercise or a new diet. But like exercise or a diet, when I pray, I am easily bored; easily distracted, never quite sure if it’s having the intended result.
I very often feel conflicted about this because, as a child, I was surrounded by prayer. My whole family prayed – a lot. My paternal great grandmother used to spend hours on her knees in prayer every day –despite her severe arthritis. My grandmother, with a flair for the dramatic, would sometimes take on the air of an Old Testament prophet when she repented of her sins, dressing in tattered clothes and letting her hair fall down around her face as a sign of her sorrow. My parents were and are a little tamer than that, but they are still serious pray-ers - remembering me and Marcos and this church every day – without fail. And when the people in my family pray, they actually believe that God answers prayers in ways that are observable and verifiable.
As a young adult, I too prayed often and earnestly. I used to carry around a list of people in my wallet - dozens of names – that I prayed for every day. And I kept a record of when those prayers were answered – and dutifully moved those names from the “needs list” to the “thanksgivings list.”
But over time, I found that these intense daily prayers often felt one-sided. And then one day, I had the most uncomfortable realization that most of my praying was really about me trying to convince the Almighty to do what I thought best. And that sort of made me God, if you think about it. But God is God and I am not. And that stark discovery left me without a reason or a way to pray.
One day Jesus was praying, as he often did. And maybe his disciples, for all their good intentions, were like so many of us - not quite sure about how to do it. And so, they asked the Teacher to teach them how to pray.
And here we should pause for just a moment because there is in some American Protestant piety this notion that one should automatically know how to pray. When I was a child, I was told: “It’s just like having a conversation with a friend.” Well, there is some truth to that – with this glaring exception: none of my friends are not invisible. And all of my friends have something to say in return. So, in that way, prayer is not just like having a conversation with a friend. And that means that most of us need to learn how to do it. Which begs the question: why isn’t the church teaching God’s people how to pray?
So, Jesus taught his friends how to do it, using words we now call the Lord’s Prayer. And this prayer - which is a model, not an idol - contains the essential building blocks of prayer: praise – that is, acknowledging the greatness of God; petition – asking for what we need; and confession – naming our failings and asking for forgiveness and a new beginning.
Perhaps you noticed that Luke doesn’t have our beloved ending: “For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever.” He doesn’t have it because those words are not in the most reliable and ancient manuscripts. They were likely added, centuries later, by monks who didn’t like Jesus’s abrupt ending. But we like it and we’re not about to get rid of it now!
And then Jesus told them a parable about being persistent in the practice of prayer. And here is where I should really pay attention, since persistence is where I struggle. And Jesus ends the parable with these memorable 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.”
And that, at first glance, seems like an invitation to ask for anything, as if God is some sort of Santa Claus, dispensing wishes to those who are persistent and haven’t been too naughty. And that, I suspect, is how many folks actually think of prayer. It’s a reward system for being good. And you have to keep at it. -- But if that is your understanding of prayer, then when you are in real need - and you don’t get what you ask for - then the logical conclusion is that God is capricious and temperamental… or maybe even cruel.
Over the course of many years of ministry, these uneven ways in which prayers seem to be answered bring more people to my office than most anything else. Think about it: we pray for those we love – and some people get well; but many don’t. Some poverty is relieved; most isn’t. God seems to favor one part of the world over another. And that process of asking and waiting and hoping and being disappointed over and over again just keeps swelling the ranks of those who have given up on the church and God.
But a careful examination of this passage leads us to very different conclusion about the aim and purpose of prayer. Because these verses do not end with a promise that if you are good, and persistent, then God will give you anything you ask for. Instead, what Jesus said was, “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!”
When we pray, what we are promised is what we actually need – the presence of God. The answer to every prayer is more of God – deeper understanding, further revelation, intimacy, belonging, and ultimately a deep, deep peace. That does not mean that we cannot ask God for what we need or others need. After all, the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to ask for our daily bread. But the measure of an answered prayer is a deeper communion with the One to whom we pray.
And that kind of connection doesn’t always need a lot of words. In the early church, a contemplative name Macarius the Great, was asked how to pray. He replied: "There is no need at all to make long discourses. It is enough to stretch out one's hands and say, 'Lord, as you will, and as you know, have mercy.” And if the conflict grows fiercer,” Macarius continued,” say, 'Lord, help!' In modern times, another contemplative, the writer Anne Lamott, has said that all prayer can be boiled down to these three essential words: “Help!” “Thanks!” “Wow!”
And then, sometimes, words are superfluous to prayer. Prayer is like the silence between lovers – full of meaning. It is intention, attitude, yearning, desire, tears, laughter, music - or even breath.
A wise rabbi once said that the Jewish name for God – Yahweh – is not spoken, but breathed. Its correct pronunciation is an attempt to imitate the sound of inhalation and exhalation.” (Yah – weh, Yah –weh…) -- And if that is true, then with every breath, we are saying the divine name. And if that is true, then with every breath, we are, as St. Paul put it, “praying without ceasing.” And if that is true, then as we emerge from our mother’s wombs, we are praying. And as we die, our very last act will be a prayer.
Lord, teach us to pray. And the Lord replied: take a breath. In - Out. Live - Love. Laugh - Cry. Believe - Doubt. Strive - Rest. Breathe - Pray. Pray. Pray…
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