Do You Know How To Pray?

 
 

Good Morning Friends,

 
 

Today’s devotional uses lectionary passages about the battles we face. The application of the scripture is however difficult to digest when hate is still so prevalent in the world and all the prayers offered to ameliorate this situation seem not yet to be answered in the affirmative. Today people are dying because of hate and some of them are calling out for divine help even as the deed is being done. The writer of our Gospel passage today presents us with a challenge. We are asked to pray persistently and continually and then also told that God answers prayers immediately. And so, we scratch our heads wondering what is going on. Perhaps the edit of the passage was a bit of an evolutionary process. For the basis for prayer in the early church teaches us that God will respond to the needs expressed in prayers of faith and particularly when the petitioner seeks primarily the kingdom of God. Maybe we do not have faith that people will stop hating. Maybe we need to learn something first. Do You Know How To Pray?

 
 

Scripture: But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching.

 
 

2 Timothy 3:14—4:2 (NRSV)

 
 

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some men for us and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands grew weary; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; so his hands were steady until the sun set. And Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the sword.

 
 

Exodus 17:8-13 (NRSV)

 
 

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'” And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

 
 

Luke 18:1-8 (NRSV)

 
 

I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, ‘Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments, we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

 
 

Daniel 9:4-6 (NRSV)

 
 

Message: Prayer is not about you and me. It is about God and God’s initiative. In discernment Paul was known to pray for love to grow, for God is love and revealed in acts of love. Daniel linked prayer to God’s plan. Through love linked to purpose God informs our prayers so we might learn what we really need…faith in God. Our motivation to pray is revealing. Prayer is often the last thing we do in desperation when it should be the first. In fact, we should be praying all the time for it is always something that God wants us to do. Today we are instructed about this through a parable about a widow who kept going to a judge to have him render a just decision. It is obvious that the widow does not have a chance against the powerful and uncompassionate judge. Likewise, in our reading from Exodus we see the inadequacy of Moses to keep his hands aloft as in a prayer even without words. The thing is that if we are anemic and weak in prayer, everything we do will be anemic. We need to understand that the Holy Spirit is our counselor and advocate in prayer and that Jesus is intercessor on our behalf praying with us for unity even in the face of unanswered prayers. The elements of prayer presented as a guide in the Lord’s Prayer are therefore not to be held in isolation, for God prayed we should be as one. The problem of unanswered prayers is not new. The Bible has several examples and the most noteworthy is of Jesus at Gethsemane. Therefor in prayer we need to accept the circumstances, environment, and things out of our control realizing that God is in control with a plan that may not have been fully revealed to us yet.

 
 

And So, even though death and life are in the power of the tongue, but we cannot make a deal with God by using magical words. Prayer doesn’t work that way. What we say, how we say it, when we say it and to whom we say it all matter for a word spoken at the right moment can be a greater force for good than any bodily act, but prayer is more than that. It is the act of the Word becoming flesh in us that brings righteousness and more powerful prayers. That is why it is critical that prayer be offered in faith with persistence. For God will hear our prayers, but quick justice does not always happen unless it is part of God’s plan. Praying for Jesus to return as hinted at in the Gospel reading should give us perspective on what we are to ask for and its overall relevance. We are to learn to pray so that we might live life on God’s terms not our own, realizing that nothing is outside God’s control but that our prayers may not be worth of affirmation just yet. Friends, we are to learn that the Word tell others who we are and illuminates the windows of the mind even as we pray in personal conversation with God. That is why we will never be any better in our public prayer life than we are in our private prayer life.

 
 

Pray we pray like Daniel. Pray not resist divine will. Pray we realize that prayer is not a magical incantation but a communion with God. Pray we pray scripture, even as we tame our tongue in conversations with others and especially in prayer with the Word made flesh. Pray we engage in a dialogue with God about God’s plan and not our own. Pray the Holy Spirit invoke an understanding in us regarding the issue of unanswered prayers and what we really need. Pray we pray persistently and passionately. Pray we not become weary or lose heart if results do not seem to be immediate. Pray we draw on the power of our weakness to overcome death dealing powers. Pray we never quit praying. Pray we never cut ourselves off from the power of God because of self-fulfilling cynicism. Pray we realize that prayer requires help and effort to fight the battles of life. Pray we realize that by entering prayer through the gateway of faith in God’s plan we are set right so we might shout joy even when we are hemmed in with trouble. Pray we realize that God not only sets the agenda but also the timing of events. Pray we pay attention to situations right in front of us. Pray we keep a focus on Jesus.

 
 

Blessings,

 
 

John Lawson