A
homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given
at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon,
Illinois on Sunday, July 28, 2013.
“A
PRIMER ON PRAYER”
(Homily text:
Luke 11: 1 – 13)
“Lord, teach us to pray, as John
taught his disciples,” one of Jesus’ disciples asks Him in today’s gospel
reading.
What follows is a slightly different
version of the Lord’s Prayer from the version
found in Matthew’s gospel account, [1] along
with two brief parables about the generosity of God the Father’s willingness to
answer our prayers.
Prayer has sometimes been called our
“Lifeline to God”.
If an active life of prayer is so
important to our wellbeing, perhaps we might explore some of the characteristics
of a healthy prayer life.
We should begin by saying that a regular prayer life is essential for all
Christians to follow. At times, I hear a
parent say of a now-grown child, “I never hear from them.” Sometimes, that statement also has another
clause added to it, and it goes like this: “Unless they need something.” We can see, from this human example, that a
one-sided or irregular relationship is unsatisfying, and doesn’t reflect the
level of love that one would normally expect to find between a parent and a
child. Making prayer a part of every
day’s living is essential to maintaining a strong link to God the Father
through God the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Next, we might explore the various tools one can use to maintain an
active prayer life. They might include
Formal, written prayers: The Prayer Book excels in this area, giving us a rich variety of prayers for a number of different occasions (see pages 810 – 841). Many of these prayers capture the sense of our occasions of thanksgiving, or our prayers in times of need for ourselves or for others, so beautifully and well that they may surpass our ability to put into words the things that are on our hearts and in our minds.
Prayer cards: I make use of 3 X 5 cards to remind me of those things I am asking God to grant on behalf of others, and for myself. I date the card at the time I begin using it during my Morning Prayer time. When the petition has been answered somehow, I usually change the card to reflect thanksgiving to God for His answer to that prayer. Other ways of using lists (the Parish Prayer List in Sunday’s bulletin and in the monthly newsletter, for example) can also be helpful in keeping those things before us that we need to remember as we bring them to the heavenly throne of God.
Freeform prayer: God answers prayer! (We will explore the ways in which God will answer prayer in a moment.) God answers prayer, no matter the form that the prayer might take. For Christians who worship according to our rich, liturgical tradition, using the Book of Common Prayer, some may not be all-that-comfortable expressing a prayer without the use of a formal, written prayer. The truth is, however, that God answers prayer, even if it seems like a clumsy utterance. With time, patience and practice, our extemporaneous prayer can become a more easily expressed reality. As we engage in that habit of practicing our extemporaneous prayer, we need to remember that God already knows the things that are on our minds and in our hearts before we make them known. So, go ahead and try to set aside any reservations that might make us feel uncomfortable or clumsy in our expressions to God in prayer.
A balanced prayer life is a sign of a healthy spiritual relationship
with God. Here, we come back to the
illustration of the parent who says, “I never hear from my child, unless they
want something.” Our prayer life can
look a lot like that, meaning that we might go to God in prayer only to ask for
something. But a balanced prayer life
contains the following ingredients:
Adoration and thanksgiving: A well-balanced prayer life often begins by telling God just how awesome He is, and to thank Him for His mercy, goodness and faithfulness. Along with this aspect of prayer, we ought also to thank God for the blessings He has given us, and for answers to prayer.
Confession: Here, we acknowledge before God the ways in which we have fallen short of His standard of righteousness and holiness. God’s holiness demands that we “own up” to the ways we fall short of that measure of holiness, knowing that, as we do so, we are confessing to a merciful God, a God who stands more ready to forgive than we are to ask for forgiveness (as the Prayer Book puts it). God’s holiness, righteousness and judgment are always linked to God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness.
Petition and intercessions: Asking God for something is the most common ingredient in people’s prayers. But as we ask, we need to keep in mind the two main categories of this aspect of praying….Petitions are those things that we ask God to grant for ourselves. Intercessions are those things we are asking God to grant on behalf of others.
- Yes! God grants the request (though not always in the timeframe we have in mind!).
- No! God’s denial of our request often means that He has something else – something better – in mind for us. After all, we can’t see the whole picture of a concern like He can. So, we need to trust God for His wisdom and His insight into a situation. (Allow me to make a personal observation: In my own life, I can see that, when God has denied a request, He always had something better in mind than I did….Indeed, “All things work together for good for those who love the Lord,”….Romans 8: 28)
- Not now: When God doesn’t answer a prayer right away, it is usually because His timeline is better than ours. When God doesn’t answer a prayer in the span of time we have in mind, our faith may be tested….sometimes, that’s exactly the reason for the delay, to test our faith. But here is where persistence comes in, and Jesus makes a particular point about being persistent in our prayers in the parable He lays before us in today’s gospel reading, as He says, “I tell you, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs.” The word “importunity” might be better translated as “persistence”. Since we life in an age of instant gratification and instant answers to problems, it is wise to be aware of the ways in the “spirit of the age” conditions our expectations with regard to the timing of God’s answer.
Finally, it’s important to remember
that prayer is a two-way conversation. We must take time in our prayer life to be
silent and to listen for God’s reply.
AMEN.
[1] Some biblical scholars have suggested that
Jesus may have given this different version of the Lord’s Prayer because He was
teaching the disciples. In Matthew’s
gospel account, Jesus gives the Lord’s Prayer in the context of the Sermon on
the Mount.
