A man said to his friend, “I'll bet ten dollars you can't say the Lord's Prayer by heart.” His friend answered, “I'll take that bet.” “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord
my soul to keep. If I should die before
I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”
When he finished, there was a pause, his friend shook his head and said,
“Well I'll be, you do know it, and handed
him the money.”
A young mother in a weak moment asked her 5 year old
daughter, “How do you think I'm doing as
a mom?” The daughter thought for a
second and said: “Well, you do yell a
lot. I know you've been praying about
it, but it just isn't working.”
Is prayer central to your Christian life? I am convinced that if a Christian is to be
spiritually alive, if a Christian is to be joyful, faithful, Spirit filled and
Christ centered, one must be continually bathed in prayer. And likewise, I am convinced that if the
Church is to be spiritually alive, if it is to be Spirit filled and Christ
centered, it must be continually immersed in prayer.
In the Old Testament, the book of Psalms, which is often
called the prayer-book of the Bible, we often hear the psalmists' say: “Hear
my prayer O God, give ear to the words of my mouth.” The Gospel of Mark says: “And in the morning, a great while before
day, Jesus rose and went out to a lonely place and there he prayed.” Jesus Christ himself demonstrated for his
followers, the need for prayer in one's daily life. Friday, March 4, was the World Day of
Prayer. Men, women and children, in more
than 170 countries, celebrated the joy and gift of prayer.
What is prayer? It's
certainly not a science, one definition of science being: “The intellectual and practical activity, encompassing the systematic
study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world, through
observation and experiment.”
Thousands of books have been written about prayer and yet prayer remains
elusive. Prayer is shrouded in mystery;
we will never fully comprehend it.
Prayer is a gift of God's grace. Prayer is a spiritual bridge in the
divine-human relationship. Prayer is
the soul's approach to God. Prayer is an
encounter with God. Prayer is communion with
God, an intimate meeting with God.
Prayer is conversation with God, one that involves speaking and
listening. Prayer is a both a gift from
God and a spiritual discipline for followers of Jesus.
Prayer is the path to a deeper relationship with God and to
a deeper knowing of ourselves. Prayer,
transforms our minds, lifts our spirits, and enlivens our hearts. Prayer is a way for our spirit to get in tune
with God's Spirit. Prayer is possible
because we are created in God’s image.
Prayer is an expression of love.
Intercessory prayer is a way of loving and caring for someone, whether
for members of your family or friends or strangers.
In the spirit of Lent, Professor Marlene Kroph writes: “In the daily round of life, dust and cobwebs
accumulate in our souls. During the
weeks of Lent, God's Spirit is given opportunity to clear away the clutter,
sweep away the dust and wash us clean.
We are invited to prepare ourselves—heart, soul, mind, and body—for the
new life of Easter.” Will you give
the Holy Spirit through prayer, such an opportunity?
I believe prayer is the highest activity of the human
spirit. No, as I've said, we will never
fully understand the nature of prayer, but should that keep us from
praying? We have a brain which we don't
fully understand, but that doesn’t stop us from thinking. We have emotions which we don’t fully
understand, but that doesn’t stop us from feeling. We have a soul we don't fully understand,
but that shouldn't stop us from praying.
No, we don't always feel like praying, but that's just the time we need
prayer more than ever.
There is a dialectical tension inherent in prayer. Prayer expresses God's Spirit in us and at
the same time it's an expression of our spirit.
Prayer builds faith in God and expresses one’s faith in God. Prayer transforms our minds, feeds our
souls, and enlivens our hearts. Prayer
empowers the church in its ministry and mission and influences lives and events
around us. We pray prayers of petition
or supplication for ourselves and prayers of intercession for others.
In our lesson in I Timothy, we read: “I urge
you, first of all, then, that requests, prayers, intercessions and
thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those in high positions,
so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.”
It's amazing! It's
incredible! One way that God
accomplishes His will and purpose in this world is through the faithful prayers
of His people, your prayers and mine.
God has chosen you and me to be living channels for changing lives
through our prayers. How this exactly
works, how its accomplished is a mystery because of our limited
understanding. Yet scripture urges us to
pray for ourselves and for others.
I Timothy is a shocking passage, why, because Kings refers
to the enemy, Caesar, the Roman Emperor.
It refers to the Roman government, to the Roman Senate, to the high
priests in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem ,
to Jewish kings in Israel ,
like Antipas and Agrippa, to powerful persons in Israel
and Rome .
This passage is astounding because Nero, a cruel and brutal
ruler, was the Emperor at this time.
Nero blamed Christians for Rome ’s
problems and persecuted them. He made
Christians the scapegoat for the fire that destroyed much of Rome in A.D. 64. Nero denied Christians any rights, executed,
imprisoned, and forced Christians to fight animals in the arena. And yet, despite this fact, here is a request
to pray for kings and people in powerful positions. The word of God says just do it.
What a privilege to pray for our nation, for our government,
from San Diego city hall to the White House, for our businesses, our courts,
our schools and teachers, our hospitals, our doctors and nurses, our police and
firefighters, our prisons, our neighborhoods, and yes, for our churches. Our nation needs prayer.
Let us pray for President Obama, for Vice President Biden,
for Congress, for the Supreme Court. Let
us pray for our military men and women and their families and our allies in our
battle against terrorism. Let us pray for
innocent civilians of terrorist attacks in Syria ,
Afghanistan and Iraq , America and other nations. Let us pray for Republicans, Independents and
Democrats, now I know that here I may be pushing it. Let us pray for our presidential
candidates. Let us pray for immigrants
in our world, legal and illegal. And
yes, as Jesus commanded, as difficult as it is, as counterintuitive as it is,
let us pray for our enemies. Jesus said: “For if
you love only those who love you, what reward do you have?”
Our Scripture passage also urges us to voice prayers of
thanksgiving for our lives, for this nation and our rights, and freedoms and
blessings. Let us pray prayers of
thanksgiving for our religious and political liberty and economic opportunity.
Why pray? I Timothy says:
“So we may live peaceful and quiet
lives in all godliness and holiness and because such prayers are good and
please God who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth.”
Intercessory prayer is made possible because of Christ’s
Spirit in our lives. Yes, our prayers
sometimes feel futile, like we are praying in vain, but we have an advocate,
Jesus Christ, our Lord and our intercessor.
I Timothy says: “There is one
mediator between God and humankind, Jesus Christ, who gave himself a ransom for
all.” Scripture says Christ's Spirit
intercedes with our spirit and gives us the power to pray even when we feel
powerless.
Let us pray because Christ commands us to pray, because
prayer is an act of love, because prayer is a gift of grace, and because prayer
makes all the difference. Amen.
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