Earlier I asked the children what big questions they had about life and faith. I’ve asked different children before about the questions they have in life, and you get responses like…
- What is life going to be like when I’m older?
- Where did I come from and where will I go?
- How did the earth form?
- Is God real?
- Why do we live and then die?
- Why does the world go clockwise?
- Does the universe ever end?
- Why do people have to eat vegies?
- Why are we here?
- Will I ever see God?
- Why were flies invented?
- Why were sisters invented?
- And I remember asking this once and one child replied….
- Does God ever hear me when I pray to him?
Well they’re very good questions, and ones that some people in our society would have also; questions about God, and for some, questions about “Does God ever hear me when I pray”? It’s interesting since Julia Gillard became Prime Minister to reflect upon what it is to have an atheist PM and how that affects the questions that are being asked, or not asked, about the deeper meaningful things in life.
Well I believe all these questions are good questions, and ones that can stay with us throughout our lives. If I had told you the questions had been asked by adults we would not have been surprised. At times I talk to adults about the same issues and questions, about God’s presence and about God hearing our prayers. Questions about why some things happen in life that seem so unnecessary. Questions about why even though we might be praying for something it never happens or it seems terribly slow in coming. Questions about what to pray for and what not to pray for. All very good questions on prayer and faith and ultimately what we believe.
The gospel passage from Luke 11 is about prayer. One of the disciples asked Jesus, to teach them how to pray, as John, that is John the Baptist, taught his disciples to pray. Obviously John had taught his disciples something about prayer, perhaps he had even taught them a prayer that they could remember and say themselves. And so Jesus teaches the disciples a prayer, which we call, The Lord’s Prayer. The image behind me is from a 13th. Century manuscript and it’s called “Jesus blesses the disciples”, and on the velum strip is the opening words of the Lord’s Prayer. One of the things I noticed when I first came here to be Minister, is that as a congregation we hardly ever say The Lord’s Prayer together in worship. Is that something we want to do more, or not. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
The first thing about this request by the disciples, and the way that Jesus went on to teach the prayer, is that prayer can be taught, and prayer can be learnt. Jesus didn’t respond by saying, “Oh you don’t need to learn to pray, just close your eyes…” Instead he taught them about prayer and he taught them a prayer. Good prayer life is learnt, it is a learned experience, over time, with practice, with teaching and with persistence. Prayer is about relationship with God, and all relationships that are healthy are nurtured over time. For some the learning experience of prayer will include learning about the things they feel they are able to pray for and the things they feel they are not able to pray for; it may include a deeper sense of how prayer is answered in relationship with God, and the way of the presence of God in our world; it may include opening one’s life so that all is laid bare, so that we become vulnerable to truth.
Another thing about the request by the disciples to learn how to pray is that Jesus responds by saying that they can pray this prayer, when they pray. The assumption is that following Jesus, faith in God, will include prayer. Not if you pray, but when you pray, you can pray in this way. There is the need to be persistent in prayer, to make it a part of who we are and what we do. One of the great gifts that Christian people can give their families, their children, the people they love, is to pray for them continually and to ask God’s blessing to be with them. Paul in his letter to the Romans writes, “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” [12: 12.] “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” It is a part of the Christian hope, that God continues to work in our lives, and so we are persistent in prayer. And so we read the parable today of the person who went to a friend at midnight to get bread, only to find the friend didn’t want to get up, but because of the persistent knocking finally the friend gets up and gives the man knocking whatever he wants. And how much more will our heavenly father long to give us, his children, good gifts.
The disciples come to Jesus and say to him, “Lord teach us to pray…” and as Jesus begins to teach the disciples the prayer we notice that this prayer is not the prayer of one person, it is not any one’s prayer, but it is the prayer of many, it is the prayer of a community. Our Father, give us each day our daily bread, forgive us, as we forgive… This is not a prayer just about me or I, it is the prayer of us, a prayer to our God. This is not even just a prayer about our church, but it is the prayer of the community of the wider church too; prayed throughout the world.
On Monday of this week a friend of ours who grew up with our group of friends, and attended our regular little gatherings, rode to work and died suddenly; my age. We all face the big questions of life in different ways at different times in our lives, as individuals, at times as church communities and even as the wider church. Questions about God, about life and death, about needs within us and our world, and as we face these questions we need to be persistent in our prayer life, to be a praying people and a praying community of Christians, both when we are alone and when we are together, and in this se that our praying is a nurturing of our relationship with God. As we see our prayer life as part of our relationship with God then we become bold enough to pray for countries where there seems to be no end to violence and tearing. We will become confident enough to pray for people we will never meet. We will be seemingly foolish enough to pray for things that may seem impossible to us, but which we know are a reflection of God. We will be embracing enough to pray for people who are different to us. To pray in this way, to pray in earnest, in love, with sincerity, not just with words is about learning to pray and about being persistent in our prayer, and to pray for things that seem beyond us, is about being in relationship with God, because prayer is talking to God, and through our prayers, we express the deepest longings and hopes of our hearts and our lives.
To pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,” is a short prayer of praise, remembering always to give thanks to God for being God, remembering to praise God’s name and who God is. We should be persistent in our praise of God, even in the midst of the difficult questions of life, because as we praise God, we remind ourselves of the many good things that we have in life and the many good things that surround us.
To pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” is a short prayer of Christian faith, prayed with the expectation that God’s kingdom is coming, and that God’s will, will be done. That God’s kingdom will come in countries where there is no peace, in lives where there is no peace, in situations where there seems as if the only way any good could come is through prayer, and through God’s kingdom and will somehow being done.
To pray, “give us today our daily bread”, acknowledges our need. What is our daily bread? Not just the bread we eat, but the things we need that sustain us in life; give us this day our daily love, hope, faith, joy, food, peace. Give us this day the things of life. The parable that follows has these words, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened”. Unfortunately, many Christians have taken this to mean that whatever we ask for we are sure to receive; the sports car, the money, the coveted item. This turns our theology into that of a winging child, selfishly wailing because we want want want. Bob Dylan has a wonderful line in one of his songs… “Do you ever wonder just what God requires? You think He’s just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires..” “Give us today our daily bread”, is not a prayer for our wandering desires.
To pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”, is a prayer of confession, as we recall and know that sin affects our lives, and that our forgiveness of others is an acknowledgement of ourselves being forgiven.
To pray, “Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil”, is a prayer of blessing, asking that God’s blessing, saving and guidance will be upon and with us.
And in praise of God we have added to the end of the prayer, a few words not in any original text…. “For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever”.
[Let us now spend some time in prayer, our prayers for others and our world, and when we come to the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples, let us pray it responsively, so as to ponder over the words, if you would repeat the lines after me.]
Let us pray…
THE LORD’S PRAYER.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.