Transcript
“Lord, teach us to pray,” was the request that Jesus’ disciples made of him. It is likely that we who have gathered here today agree that prayer is important and powerful. But if we are honest, maybe we have also wondered from time to time, why pray? What is it for? What difference does it make? And perhaps that same sentiment was behind the disciples seemingly benign request to learn to pray.
Over the church’s history, there have been many answers to the questions of how and why one should pray. Most start with acknowledging we have access to an incredible power – one that formed the ground on which we stand, numbered all the stars in the sky, and knows every hair on our head. Some church practices have placed prayer exclusively in the hands of clergy while others place emphasis on the born-again Christian’s access to God through prayer. Other formulas for prayer can also turn God into a type of genie in a bottle in which, if our prayers are said correctly and we rub the bottle in just the right way, our wishes will be granted.
Jesus, in his teaching on prayer in Luke 11, and throughout his life, makes it clear that God is not a wish granter. If it were so, God would take on our image and would cease to be the very thing we seek and depend on. But before we become too dismissive of this perspective, let’s admit that perhaps we have all been drawn to see God as the key to our happiness and even desires. None of us have perfect lives. We have all faced moments of difficulty we’d rather avoid. Pain that brings us to our knees. Desires we cannot fulfill. Longings that are not satisfied. And we mutter, “Lord, if you just grant me this request…”
But, if prayer is not about getting what we want or even what we perceive we need, then why pray? I want to suggest that prayer helps us discover who we really are. And in doing so prayer opens us up to the world in front of us that we otherwise could not see. For the curious, the adventurous, and quite honestly, for those who feel they have nothing else to lose, prayer is an invitation to partner in a journey with the creator of this world. In prayer, we stop setting the itinerary and start trusting the voice of our creator. In other words, we are building a relationship. Like any relationship, prayer can open our horizons to unnamed and unknown opportunities.
When my wife Beth and I started dating, I began doing things I hadn’t ordinarily cared to do. For one, I started talking on the phone a whole lot more. I’ve never been a big fan of the phone, but there I was many nights, after having already spent the evening with her, returning home to spend even more time talking to her over the phone. And then I stopped spending as much time with my roommates. My apartment became a place I slept and kept my things. Otherwise, I was in class, at work, or with Beth. I remember I read a Nicholas Sparks book because the story made her cry, and she was sure it would do the same for me. We even took a dance class together!
Anyone who has fallen in love knows that the person you become smitten with changes you. We encounter a completely different person with a different background full of different experiences that are not our own. A whole new world begins to open up. Eventually, if the relationship lasts, the individuals begin to hold more in common – each may even start to finish the other’s sentences. But part of the electricity of a new romance is the freshness and mystery of the person who has come into your orbit. Healthy relationships don’t demand the other person conform to narrow expectations but celebrates the surprises that come in discovering a unique individual that inspires new points of view. Some even find the courage to take up dancing!
Prayer also leads to a change of perspective – a change in the way we see ourselves, others, and the world we inhabit. But if there is one thing I know about myself – and I think this applies to all people – it is that we do not take well to change. Getting what we want sounds much better. After all, we think we see the world clearly! It’s not we who need to change but the others around us! But following Jesus’ pattern of prayer involves a surrender of control. In doing so, we create space in our lives for God to be present and form us in his image.
A biblical word for change is repent – it means to change direction. If prayer brings about repentance, and we pray-ers don’t take well to change, then there must be something else at play in the work of prayer, if prayer is to at all be meaningful. That something is the mysterious, even ethereal power of the Holy Spirit. While the Spirit isn’t directly mentioned in the Lord’s prayer – either in Luke or the more familiar version in Matthew –the Spirit’s power is evident in Jesus’ own prayer life that his disciples witness first-hand. And it’s the same gift of the Spirit that Jesus says God will gladly give us when we ask.
The gospel of Luke is especially attentive to Jesus’ prayer life. By chapter 11, when the disciples ask how to pray, we’ve already witnessed Jesus at prayer in five different scenes. Each of these scenes teaches us something about the character of Jesus and who he is becoming. No longer is he simply the son of a carpenter in a back-water village in the Galilee.
The first instance of Jesus in prayer comes after Jesus’ baptism, when he receives the Holy Spirit. It is an affirming and empowering gift to Jesus. God’s words in Luke 3:22: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” God sets Jesus apart for a mission which Jesus introduces in Luke 4, referencing the power of the Spirit now at work in his life:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” The people to whom Jesus is speaking to in his hometown of Nazareth also take notice of the authority and graciousness that came from one of their own. But they have been led to believe that God would certainly not show up in such a simple place, and in such a simple human form. And so instead of being open to the possibility that God just might be up to something new, they choose to stick with the familiar narrative that keeps them comfortably right where they are. In rejecting Jesus, they are also rejecting the Spirit that is animating his journey. It’s the same Spirit that could also break them out of the narrow identity they have been given.
In Luke 5, Jesus’ prayer life expands as his fame as a healer grows. While Jesus is bringing restoration and healing to people, he makes sure to avoid the swelling crowds and adulation. The Spirit at work in his life leads him to seek an audience with God rather than the never-ending demands from the crowds.
In Luke 6, Jesus spends a night in prayer before choosing 12 of his disciples to serve as apostles. As his mission grows, so do the conflicts with the temple authorities and those representing Rome. Prayer reveals to Jesus not only the scope and limit of his earthly mission but also the people he must invest in who will carry the mission forward.
In Luke 9, Jesus’ prayers lead him to ask his disciples, “Who do the crowds say that I am? And Who do you say that I am?” It is at this point that Peter first recognizes Jesus as God’s chosen one – God’s Messiah. Peter makes a dangerous claim that Jesus has been sent by God to deliver his people from bondage rather than the authorities who sit in power. It is a claim Jesus does not deny but one he also understands will cost him his earthly life. Ongoing prayer in the spirit provides the stimulus for grasping the paradox that the way to find life is by giving it away.
Finally, Luke 9:28 finds Jesus again on a mountain in prayer, this time with three of his disciples – Peter, James, and John. It is there these three have an amazing vision of Jesus transfigured, in conversation with what appears to be Moses and Elijah. When Peter proposes they build three tents for each, perhaps in order to worship them, God breaks in to identify Jesus by saying: “This is my Son, my chosen; listen to him!” Prayer also can lead to clarifying moments when God can break in and be heard.
With these five episodes in mind, you can’t blame Jesus’ disciples for wanting to know the secret formula for prayer. But what I find amazing is that Jesus so freely offers us a simple way to access God. Remember Moses’ encounters with God? He was so filled with God’s glory that he had to wear a veil over his face to keep from frightening his fellow Hebrews after he had an spoken with God. But Jesus didn’t respond, “sorry fellas – this talking with God is only for us professionals, like Moses and Elijah.” Rather, in a clear way, he lays out what we need to say in order to receive what God wants to give us. Unlike the pagan deities of the Greeks and Romans, Jesus shows that God is not distant but is approachable.
As in Jesus’ prayer in the Gospel of Matthew, the prayer he teaches his disciples in Luke is not elevated language from an ivory tower. It is earthy and for the here and now. It recognizes the needs of the body as much as the needs of our souls – that they are of one cloth. It starts with putting God and each of us in our appropriate places. God’s name should be hallowed above any other authority or personal preference. Next is a request for God’s kingdom and authority to come – a recognition that God is not only elevated but is also invited into the ordering of our lives right now, in our world. And God’s kingdom isn’t just an idea, either. When we ask for God to give us our daily bread, we are acknowledging our needs can be met by God. It is meant to remind us of God’s provisions to the wandering Hebrews as they were given Mana each day from heaven. Never was any saved for the following day. God’s provisions were always enough. Tomorrow’s gift of bread would bring enough for the following day.
Forgiveness is a plea we all are familiar with because we all know we need it. We know that God promises forgiveness to those who repent – there is that word again – those who seek to change direction in their lives. Jesus’ prayer assumes that forgiving others is a by-product of being forgiven and that it may even come first. Jesus prays, “Forgive our sins, for we forgive everyone indebted to us.” In our world of tit-for-tat, only people changed by the power of the Spirit can introduce a spirit of forgiveness into situations of anger and retribution. And if our prayers anticipate the forgiving power of God in our lives, then we can confidently and graciously forgive others.
Finally, Jesus’ prayer includes deliverance from trial. God isn’t the source of our trials, but Jesus knows that it is something we all face. Temptations for self-importance and worldly power were constantly assailing Jesus during his ministry. Later, in Luke chapter 22, Jesus acknowledges these dynamics as he redirects a dispute among his disciples over who is greatest. Claiming the status of a servant among his disciples, he sets for them the example of servant leadership and commends those among him who have stood by him when he has faced trials. Acknowledging that trials will come our way reinforces for those who pray Jesus’ prayer an assurance that God will be present during such difficulties.
So, the structure of Jesus’ prayer is simple and clear: Praise and elevation of God’s name above all others, commitment to God’s reign becoming reality in our present time, reliance on God’s abundant provision to meet our needs, thanksgiving for God’s restoration of relationships, and a plea for protection during trials that test our faith. This kind of prayer has the power to reshape our perspective when put into practice.
And practice is what Jesus appears to have in mind as he moves beyond the basic mechanics of prayer by adding two brief parables. The first appears to reward persistence and compares God to a reluctant neighbor. But God is certainly not reluctant to answer our cries for help any more than a person would shun his neighbor in first century Palestine when hospitality is at stake. Because ancient mid-eastern hospitality demanded that if a traveler stops in need of food and shelter, a host would without question provide a warm welcome. After all, the host may one day be in the same situation.
One way of reading Jesus’ story of the indifferent, sleepy neighbor is to see it as an antithesis of God’s character when we come to God in prayer. God is not too busy, too tired, or too indifferent to our concerns that God would have to be prodded to annoyance in order to respond to our need. Such a perspective, John Claypool suggests, is a cynical way that our society associates need and benevolence. Some might today even say, who are we that the rich, the powerful, or even the gods would take notice of our need? Here, it appears that only in the most desperate of situations will the powerful be moved by our persistent, if not irritating request for aid.
But Jesus changes the tone from one of scarcity and annoyance to one of permissive abundance in verse 9 when he says “I say to you, ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Rather than a stingy neighbor, Jesus likens God to a loving parent, who desires to give his or her child every good gift. And if we imperfect parents know how to care for our children, how much more will a perfect God gladly care for his children?
We’ve been around kids whose parents give in to their every wish. God is not in the business of catering to spoiled children. He desires, though, to see we, his children, grow into the kind of people who trust his guidance, reflect his character, and are eager to see God’s kingdom made evident on earth as it is in heaven. Transformation like that doesn’t happen on demand. Instead, it is discovered by daily showing up to seek God with an open heart and open mind. This is where persistence is rewarded. Not because we need to convince God to bless us but rather, like children, we need daily reminders that we need to welcome God’s good gifts in our lives. In doing so, prayer becomes a rewarding journey for those who accept the call to consistently ask, seek, and knock. And what we find as we offer our life as a prayer to God is, according to Paul, a power at work in us that is immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine: the Holy Spirit.
Jesus concludes his teaching on prayer by pointing out that in prayer, access to the Holy Spirit is really what we are looking for. It is a mysterious but essential part of a relationship with God. It’s the Spirit at work in our lives that reveals to us who we really are – truly made in the image of a loving and creative God whose blessings know no limit. What’s more, it is God’s desire that he share with us that creative, life-affirming power. If we don’t talk about the Spirit in church, it is to our detriment. Then, we become like the people in Nazareth who reject the gifts that Jesus offers, instead preferring to inhabit the comfortable identity that someone other than God assigns.
You know, the good news about our identity is right at the beginning of the bible! Genesis tells us that we are created in God’s image. In fact, we hold in our bodies something of God that God recognizes and can relate to. God desires to partner with his human creation in creating a world that is both beautiful and meaningful. And while God could create a perfect world alone, in another sense it would still be missing something. A world without our creative input would defeat the whole purpose of creating something that God can share. We are created for God. When we are at our best we reflect God’s glory back to God in a giving and receiving relationship that can set the world at peace. Prayer is our pathway into this relationship.
Knowing this, we can finally return to the Old Testament lesson we heard earlier in the service. It seems Abraham has the audacity to challenge God when God decides to visit Sodom and Gomorrah, to see if there are any righteous people living there. Abraham has been living his life in response to God. He is intimately acquainted with God’s character. He knows that God is just and will be repelled by the sin there. But Abraham also knows God is gracious and merciful. With that in mind, Abraham reflects all of God’s character back to God in this exchange – what we could also call prayer. Abraham makes no excuses for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. They have given into selfish, dehumanizing desires. But Abraham knows that they too have the potential to reflect God, having been created in God’s image. The Holy Spirit empowers Abraham to reflect God’s character of mercy and love, which motivates God’s patience. This is a picture of what prayer looks like when we receive the power of the Holy Spirit. We partner with God in God’s surprising counter-cultural work that brings peace and wholeness into our broken world.
So go ahead – I challenge you this week to ask, seek, and knock with the expectation that the Holy Spirit just might open some unexpected doors for you.
