Lord, teach us to pray
Luke 11:1-13
In every faith tradition, prayer is essential. Christians pray. Muslims pray. Jews pray. Buddhists meditate, but some of them will call it prayer. Hindus pray. Seemingly, we all pray.
But what is prayer?
I think of it as opening myself to God. Through the years, I find that I say less and less in my prayers and listen more. I long to be with God. I hunger for a sense of presence. I find that if I am talking, that presence is hard to come by, so I do more sitting still. I wait.
Other times, I think. As I run, my mind runs wherever it wants to as the miles slip past. I think about my children, my wife, my parents, my congregation, my day, or I run through yesterday, last night, or last week--whatever my mind needs to sort through. It becomes prayer as I seek God's presence. I seek God's help to be whom I need to be with whomever I am with. I seek God's grace when my mind stays with some royal foul up I have committed. I ask for help with the knots and tangles of working with others and being with others. I seek God's strength to push beyond my comfort zone to be with those I would not normally to be with or to deal with folks whom I cannot stand to be with. The same to do things I would not normally do. It is amazing how quickly an hour run goes by.
I worship. Prayer is praise. God is God, and I am not. Thanks be to God. It is good to remind oneself of this truth. God deals with the cosmos. I don't. God controls the spinning of the spheres, I don't. God brought me into being, I did not. God can be all things to all people in all places, I can't. I give thanks to God for the liberation from having to be all of these things. The weight of the world leads to bad backs.
Where do we pray?
The simple answer--anywhere and everywhere.
But...
Christ taught that prayer needs to be done in secret--in a closet (Mt. 6:6). As we read this lesson, we find that what Christ really wants is engagement. Christ knows the human predilection for show. We do and say things where everyone will see us, and, admittedly, the truth is we want someone to notice us and then to know how good we are. Go to one of our many community walking trails. Simply wait. It won't take long to find the showboat. Here will come The Guy--my goodness, to see him striding down the path, you would think he scaled Everest. The truth is that usually he made it a mile or so. He will be decked out in the latest gear, glowing in shades of neon. He will finish with great noise and grimacing. Then he will "stretch," groaning as if the gods sat on him. Then he will strut around for a while, intoning, "Boy, that was a good run. That was a really good run," flexing for the cameras he assumes track his every move. Sadly, we can fall into the same trap with prayer. We want people to know we pray, so we make great show of it, while actually doing none of things I mentioned above as prayer. No heart is in it.
A friend of mine says grace before every meal or snack or cup of coffee. You never know it because he simply sits there for a second, but he does it every time. It is between him and God.
Yet, at the same time, corporate worship is necessary for faith's nourishment. We need each other. We need the support of our community of grace. We need the reassurance that we are not left on our own. When the faith community gathers for worship, it does so praying out loud, and often employing ancient prayers of the Church. We pray the ritual prayers of worship. So, yes, we make a show of it, but, again, engagement is the key. As we pray, be mindful of the words, of the people at hand, and of your own heart, mind, and spirit. As we pray, be mindful that we are addressing our God. Be present.
Finally, pray. Open heart and mind. Pray.
God will listen.
In every faith tradition, prayer is essential. Christians pray. Muslims pray. Jews pray. Buddhists meditate, but some of them will call it prayer. Hindus pray. Seemingly, we all pray.
But what is prayer?
I think of it as opening myself to God. Through the years, I find that I say less and less in my prayers and listen more. I long to be with God. I hunger for a sense of presence. I find that if I am talking, that presence is hard to come by, so I do more sitting still. I wait.
Other times, I think. As I run, my mind runs wherever it wants to as the miles slip past. I think about my children, my wife, my parents, my congregation, my day, or I run through yesterday, last night, or last week--whatever my mind needs to sort through. It becomes prayer as I seek God's presence. I seek God's help to be whom I need to be with whomever I am with. I seek God's grace when my mind stays with some royal foul up I have committed. I ask for help with the knots and tangles of working with others and being with others. I seek God's strength to push beyond my comfort zone to be with those I would not normally to be with or to deal with folks whom I cannot stand to be with. The same to do things I would not normally do. It is amazing how quickly an hour run goes by.
I worship. Prayer is praise. God is God, and I am not. Thanks be to God. It is good to remind oneself of this truth. God deals with the cosmos. I don't. God controls the spinning of the spheres, I don't. God brought me into being, I did not. God can be all things to all people in all places, I can't. I give thanks to God for the liberation from having to be all of these things. The weight of the world leads to bad backs.
Where do we pray?
The simple answer--anywhere and everywhere.
But...
Christ taught that prayer needs to be done in secret--in a closet (Mt. 6:6). As we read this lesson, we find that what Christ really wants is engagement. Christ knows the human predilection for show. We do and say things where everyone will see us, and, admittedly, the truth is we want someone to notice us and then to know how good we are. Go to one of our many community walking trails. Simply wait. It won't take long to find the showboat. Here will come The Guy--my goodness, to see him striding down the path, you would think he scaled Everest. The truth is that usually he made it a mile or so. He will be decked out in the latest gear, glowing in shades of neon. He will finish with great noise and grimacing. Then he will "stretch," groaning as if the gods sat on him. Then he will strut around for a while, intoning, "Boy, that was a good run. That was a really good run," flexing for the cameras he assumes track his every move. Sadly, we can fall into the same trap with prayer. We want people to know we pray, so we make great show of it, while actually doing none of things I mentioned above as prayer. No heart is in it.
A friend of mine says grace before every meal or snack or cup of coffee. You never know it because he simply sits there for a second, but he does it every time. It is between him and God.
Yet, at the same time, corporate worship is necessary for faith's nourishment. We need each other. We need the support of our community of grace. We need the reassurance that we are not left on our own. When the faith community gathers for worship, it does so praying out loud, and often employing ancient prayers of the Church. We pray the ritual prayers of worship. So, yes, we make a show of it, but, again, engagement is the key. As we pray, be mindful of the words, of the people at hand, and of your own heart, mind, and spirit. As we pray, be mindful that we are addressing our God. Be present.
Finally, pray. Open heart and mind. Pray.
God will listen.
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