“Dear God, so far today, I’ve done
alright. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t
lost my temper, haven’t been grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m thankful about this Lord. But in a few moments, I’m going to get out of
bed, and then I’m going to need a lot of help.” Amen!
This
morning we are focusing upon prayer.
Why? Three reasons. Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day, the Patron
Saint of Ireland, a Roman Catholic Bishop in 5th century Roman Britain, whose
life is well worth studying. Prayer was
central to the spiritual life of the Celts of Ireland. God used Patrick to evangelize Ireland
I
am convinced that if a Christian is to be spiritually alive, if a Christian is
to have a vibrant faith, if a Christian is to be joyful, faithful, Spirit
filled, Christ centered, one must be continually immersed in prayer. I believe the same thing about the
church. Is prayer important? 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.” It was important to Jesus. Prayer was fundamental to his life and
ministry. Jesus personally prayed. He taught the disciples and crowds how to
pray. He commanded his followers to
pray.
What
is prayer? It's not an empirical
science, based upon observation and experimentation. Thousands of books have been written about
prayer. But prayer remains shrouded in
mystery; we don’t finally understand it.
But that’s OK. There is a
plethora of things we don’t understand about life, but we keep on living
it. We don’t fully understand the human
brain, but that doesn’t keep us from thinking.
We don’t know how to raise children, but we learn and keep having them
and do the best we can. We don’t fully
understand human biology, but the medical field continues researching. We don’t understand ourselves fully or what
motivates others. We don’t understand
why the universe exists and we only have theories about how it came into
existence. We don’t know if life exists
anywhere else in the universe except on earth.
We don’t know what happened to the dinosaurs. I love what one scientist said: “It’s
easy to focus on what we know, yet to me the wonder of the cosmos, the
awesomeness, is never greater than when we contemplate all that we don’t know.” I feel exactly the same way about prayer.
I
believe prayer is the highest activity of the human spirit. 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 which involves speaking and
listening. Prayer is a spiritual
discipline which needs to be practiced.
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 an
expression of love. Intercessory prayer
is a way of loving others whether members of your family or friends or
strangers. Prayer builds our faith up
in God and expresses our faith to others.
Prayer is a way God achieves His plans and purposes for human lives and
the world. Prayer is a way God changes
us and circumstances around us. Prayer
keeps us dependent upon God which is a good thing.
Prayer
says: “I need you God, I belong to you.
I want to be in constant touch with you.
My heart is restless until it rests in you.” Prayer helps us to be a better human being,
a better follower, and to see God more clearly, follow God more nearly, and to
love God more dearly.
I
like what author Richard Foster says about prayer: “Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Prayer brings us into the deepest and highest
work of the human spirit. Real prayer is
life creating and life changing. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to
transform us. If we are unwilling to
change, we will abandon prayer as a noticeable characteristic of our lives.”
From
where does prayer flow? Prayer flows
from a heart of Thanksgiving. “I thank you God.” “I praise you God.” Prayer
flows from a heart of fear and need. “Help me God.” “I am
sorry, forgive me God.” Prayer flows
from a heart of love. “Help this person God.” Prayer is our response to God’s word and
activity in our lives.
I
thank God for prayers which have been answered in my life: prayers about Nancy
and our sons, and our daughters in law and grandchildren; prayers for protection
in frightening situations; prayers for healing and health; prayers for
surprises of grace which I didn’t expect nor deserve, but isn’t that what grace
is all about; prayers leading me, guiding me, inspiring me and encouraging me
in ministry as a pastor serving four churches in 42 years.
I
am thankful for prayers for others which God has answered over the years. Prayers for healing, for employment, for
marriages becoming healthy, for parenting challenges which were resolved,
prayers for older parents who reconciled with their grown children, prayers for
grown children stepping up to care for aging parents, prayers for people who
discovered direction and purpose in a life that had been aimless and lost. Prayers for persons who came to faith in Christ
as their lord and savior.
And
yes, there have also been prayers that were not answered, at least in the way I
had hoped they would be. Some of those
are the questions I hope to have a conversation with Jesus about one day. I like some of you have questions as
well. In my own case I can think of prayers
God did not answer in the way I prayed, but in looking back, I am grateful God
didn’t, because things unexpectedly turned out better. I am thankful for the prayers of others for
our family over the years. Yes, we learn
a lot about patience and trust in the life of prayer.
I
think of an older member in one of our congregations who was having severe back
pain. Two highly qualified doctors
informed him of the diagnosis and the recommendation – lower back surgery. He prayed about it. We prayed about it, because he still had
doubts in his mind. He finally went to
visit one of the Mayo Clinics. They told
him it was an issue with a leak in the cerebrospinal fluid and required a stint
and that he needed a totally different surgery.
He recovered fully. This is not
to disrespect the doctors at all. We all
know diagnostics can be extremely difficult.
The point is my friend continually prayed and listened and was guided by
God to the right place and the right doctor for him.
We
know that prayer can be spontaneous or read, memorized, silent and spoken. I love classic prayers, like the Serenity
Prayer: “God grant me the serenity to
accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and
the wisdom to know the difference.”
I love The Prayer of St Francis: “O
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow
love, where there is injury, pardon, where there is doubt, faith, where there
is despair, hope, where there is darkness, light, where there is sadness,
joy. O master grant that I many not so
much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood, as to understand, to
be love as to love, for it is giving that we receive, in pardoning that we are
pardoned, and in dying that we are born to eternal life.” I love the Lord’s Prayer: “Our
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive
us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for
ever and ever. Amen.”
I
close with the inspiring words from the letter of Philippians: “Rejoice in the Lord, always; again I say
rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to
everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in
everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be
made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will
guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Amen!
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