Jesus Teaching On Praying

"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.’."

(from Luke 11:1-13 or Matthew 6:9-13 )

Who taught you how to pray?

For me, probably my mother taught me this prayer: 

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep.

Angels watch me through the night,

and wake me with the morning light. Amen.

This bedtime prayer didn't mean much to me because my image of angels related to Christmas Trees. It was fine with me if they were flying around guarding my presents under the tree.

For us and the disciples it is Jesus.

When a disciple asked Jesus to teach them about prayer, it was more likely something other than a technique, or position, or pattern. 

As Jews, they already knew these things.

It seems to me they wanted to learn more about Jesus’ love for God and his intense desire to see God’s reign come to complete realization.

They wanted to discover what love for God and neighbor looks like. 

The disciples wanted a prayer showing what Jesus thinks God and the promised kingdom is like. 

The disciples wanted a prayer they could share demonstrating their passion for God and the promised reign of God

So, Jesus gave them a prayer based on encouraging love for God and neighbor by describing the ways God has shown the meaning of steadfast love.

Jesus teaches his theological convictions that God hears, provides, forgives, protects, and expects generosity to others.

Sometimes I worry prayer doesn’t do much. For me, the Lord's Prayer is Jesus’ reminder that God hears my words, silences, and anxieties, is generous.

I'm thankful that Jesus followed up his teaching urging me to persist in prayer because with God, the door is always open 

First Pray, Then Wait

"All the paths of the Lord are

steadfast love and faithfulness,

for those who keep his 

covenant and his decrees."

(from Psalm 25)

First Pray.

During worship when people ask for prayers, the most common types call upon God for relief from some personal suffering. 

prayers calling upon God for relief from some personal sufferings are the most common in the psalms

On the other hand, people share deep seated prayer concerns needing long-term resolutions only God can resolve.

Deep seated prayers include ending cancer, the Ukraine War, hungry, homeless, and other social injustices.

And so, we pray.

Then wait.

And then we wait. 

Waiting for answers may feel like Noah adrift 40 days as we faithfully wait continually praying for resolutions to the deep-seated pains of humanity. 

It seems to me there are two ways to wait.

The first is passive by asking, "How Long O Lord? 

This strikes me as being impatient because God hasn't acted in the time frame I desired. It's an "I'm expecting God to do something because I asked."

The second, is actively "following the paths of the Lord."

A path to begin with Wesley called "searching the Scriptures" which suggests faithfully reading the Bible. 

An excellent way to do this is reading from the Lectionary daily. This offers a psalm, Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel. 

A portion of this path includes the Lord's Prayer, prayers of your own and prayers based on deep-seated needs of humanity.

Finally, I feel, communion is a path of the Lord that nourishes and sustains, as we wait.

Breaking bread, sharing the cup, with the work of the Spirit among us is God's active sign of presence and healing.

Since God is the God of salvation, this is how we wait: faithfully and hopefully.

Secure in God's Hands

"You show me the path of life.

In your presence there is fullness of joy;

in your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

(from Psalm 16)

When I am looking to draw closer to God's presence, places I choose are mountains or hills with panoramic overviews. 

Another place I go when I am looking for a greater sense of God's presence is by water. Sometimes it's the "still waters" of a lake or gentle stream. Other times it's by the vastness of the sea. 

By sitting quietly and absorbing the awesome beauty, I sense God's presence. I sense a peace that passes understanding.

Perhaps, though, you may not have mountains, hills, rivers, lakes or the sea nearby.

I believe reading the Psalms is another way to draw closer to God. They describe human thoughts and feelings with a desire to create an intimacy with God.

For a moment, imagine yourself as someone who feels a need for God’s protection and refuge.

You open your Bible to Psalm 16 and begin reading.

You are joining with others who have prayed, sung, chanted or studied these words since the 5th century BC.

Like them, you are asking God to keep you safe because you know that no matter where you are, you can find refuge in God.

You know this because God has provided a portion and cup and boundary lines.

So you bless God for the gifts of counsel and conscience that kept you from the wrong paths in life.

Looking at the ways God has kept you safe, you praise God whatever the future holds, because you know you are secure in God’s hands.

Being Clothed in Christ

There is no longer Jew or Greek,

there is no longer slave or free,

there is no longer male and female;

for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.

(From Galatians 3:23-29)

Stanley stood before the font. 

As one of the underprivileged worshippers in my middle-class, small-town church, this was a major event.

 

He was 65 and had led a hard life, of which town folk were aware.

Now, he and his wife were in charge of a teenage granddaughter whose parents were in jail. 

At the font, I asked him the traditional questions, he leaned over, I poured a small amount of water over his head and called on the Holy Spirit to enter his life.

He was now clothed in Christ beginning a new relationship before God.

For Stanley, this was a very significant event.

He couldn't read and memorized the entire service so he would know what to say when.

For me, clothing him in Christ felt as though I was washing away the dirt of his soul giving him a new beginning.

For the church, Stanley was beginning a new life in which they could surround him in love and support as he became a new member. 

Through his baptism and work of God's Spirit, we were being transformed into new creation right now.

Paul's vision of the Galatian church was to be a people who reveal love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23).

Paul’s vision of the church is that all nations—in their God-given voice praise God with one voice.

Paul's vision of the small Galatian church continues today as the lives of believers are transformed through baptism.

God’s Spirit is at work transforming the lives of believers by showing baptism is making it possible.

Reflect on your baptism. How has God's Spirit been transforming you?