Sermon: Pray Always, 16/10/16
Luke 18: 1-14, 2 Timothy 3: 10-4: 5, Jeremiah 31:
27-34
Today’s gospel reading
consists of two parables which Jesus told, to teach his followers about their need to pray always and not to
lose heart.
The first parable is about
persistence in prayer. It tells of the
humblest of persons, a widow, who had been wronged and was seeking justice.
Perhaps she’d been swindled, or robbed, we aren’t told. She was powerless
because of her place in society, yet she knew that she deserved justice and she
knew the only way to get it was through the judge. We are told he was corrupt,
he was not interested, yet through her persistence she won the justice she had
begged for. Jesus may have startled his listeners by comparing God with the
corrupt judge, but I think he wanted us to focus on the persistence and faith
that the widow had, that eventually she would be given what she needed. She
didn’t give up and her petition was granted.
I think Jesus also wanted us
to think, well, if a rotten corrupt judge will answer the pleadings of a humble
person, how much more will our heavenly father who loves us, listen and answer
us.
It can be very disheartening
to pray and feel we are not being heard.
Mind you, God’s ways are not
our ways and the answer that we receive may not be what we expected. But it
will be the answer from the Father who loves us.
Pray always and do not lose heart
The second parable tells us
something about how to pray: from the heart, directly to God and tell it like
it is. The Pharisee was praying loudly and publicly to the people around him more
than to God. He was informing God about his righteousness and his contempt for
those who were not as good as he in keeping God’s law. In contrast, the tax
collector stood before God, his eyes cast down. He did not supply God with a
list of his virtues, rather he assumed that God knew the worst about him. He
just asked for forgiveness. Jesus said that this man went home forgiven and justified,
which means right with God. I’m sure his heart felt very much lighter! It doesn’t take a lot of words to say
sorry and ask for forgiveness, but it must come from the heart.
Those
who humble themselves will be exalted and those who exalt themselves will be
humbled.
Pray
always and do not lose heart.
In our services and at home we
offer intercessory prayers-in these we are asking God for some things that we and
others need.
I’ve been reading a little
about belief in intercessory prayers in the history of our church. During the
1800s as more and more became known about how nature works, what causes the
weather, what causes diseases, crop failures, and so on, some gave up on
intercessory prayer. They thought that, for example, praying for rain to end a
drought was pointless, because rainfall depended on a complex set of
meteorological conditions, not on God deciding to send rain when his people
asked for it.
The Anglican bishop of
Melbourne, bishop Moorhouse in the 1870s caused a furor when he wouldn’t join
with the leaders of the other faiths to pray for rain to end a drought. Rather,
he said, we should agitate for construction of dams and sensible planning for
water usage. A practical man. He was right in one way-I think God expects us to
do everything we can to help ourselves and others. But he was wrong in
believing that God would not hear the prayers of his people and answer them. I
believe that God answers the prayers of his people in the wisest way. The
answer was not immediate rain because there was a severe drought in Victoria in
the 1880s. But it brought about something they needed more: the impetus to plan and build dams and
irrigation channels for the future. In the short term, perhaps they began to share
water with neighbours and to help one another financially through the drought. All
good outcomes of prayer.
We may pray for healing for a
friend who is very ill, but sometimes the healing that comes in answer to our
prayer is different from what we expect: perhaps it is the healing of family
rifts as all are drawn together by a common bond of love for the person who is
ill. I have seen a person dying but filled with the joy of finally seeing all
of her loved ones standing together and talking at last.
Moorhouse shared the belief of
many at the time and now, of a remote creator God, who set the laws of nature
going then stepped back and interfered no more. I don’t believe God is like
that. I believe God answers prayers, giving us what we need, which may be not
what we think it is. After all, God interfered, big time, in the affairs of
humans in the incarnation. Thoughout his life, Jesus showed us how God bends
the laws of illnesses, paralysis, stormy seas, and death itself, to intervene
in the world, because of his overwhelming love of humanity and of creation.
I believe he intervenes all
the time by answering our prayers. Otherwise
Jesus would not have told us and modeled prayer for us: pray always. He gave us the
Lord’s prayer as a model for the sort of words to use, and to show what we can
pray for. He spent hours in prayer himself. He gave us the illustrations in
today’s gospel of how to pray and how not to pray.
We must trust in the wisdom of
God to answer our prayers in the best way. Thinking practically, it’s likely
that every person who is dying has someone praying that they may live. We know
that this would not be a helpful outcome for the population of the planet.
Continuing our practical thinking, there are laws of nature, that is why we
have earthquakes and tsunamis and volcanic eruptions and floods and droughts: God
created these laws of nature to give us the world in which we live, we would
not have a habitable planet without them. Yet these natural disasters can cause
suffering and death. We may pray to be spared from them, but all are necessary
in the shaping and renewal of our planet. We cannot see the big picture that
God sees, so we must trust in his wisdom to answer our prayers in the best way.
Even so, sometimes, it seems, out of love and compassion God breaks his own
rules when his beloved people call upon him. Rainfall comes unexpectedly. Survivors
are pulled from landslide rubble days after hope is lost-prayers are answered. In
answer to our prayers after disasters we see the bravery and compassion of the
rescuers, the generosity of the aid agencies and their supporters, the medicos.
God answers our prayers in God’s own wise ways, and we need to be alert to see
those answers.
Some say their prayers are not
answered and give up. There may be some reasons for thinking this:
·
Are we asking for the wrong things?
We often finish our intercessions
by saying that we ask these things in Jesus’ name. That means that we ask just
as Jesus would ask for this thing from God. So for example, we might pray that
God will comfort our friend whose mother has died, and we ask it in Jesus’
name. For we know that Jesus sought to comfort those who are in mourning and so
we know he will be with us, joining in our request to God.
We might bring before God the
suffering of the people of Syria. Perhaps we don’t even know what would be the
best outcome for them, but we know that Jesus understands and cares about the
way children and poor people suffer at the hands of military forces and
uncaring rulers. So we can be confident that he will join in our prayer to God,
when we ask in his name.
Sometimes, often even, we
don’t know what the best outcome is. So we can simply pray for the best
outcome. I often do this when a person is nearing the end of a painful illness,
when death itself and going to be with the Lord may be the best possible
outcome. So we pray for God in his wisdom to bring about the best possible
outcome and trust him. It may be recovery or it may be death, but our prayers
are answered.
So when we pray about winning
the next Lotto, or even the footy Grand final it is not likely that Jesus would
be joining with that prayer. Are they the sort of things Jesus would ask of his
Father God? No! We really cannot pray such a prayer in Jesus’ name, so the
chances of receiving the answers we seek are rather slim.
Intercessory prayer is asking God for what we need, for
ourselves and for others. It lets God know what’s on our hearts and that we
have faith that God cares and will answer.
But there are other kinds of
prayer which we often neglect.
Communication with God needs
to be two way, as it does in any meaningful relationship. In order to hear God speaking
to us, we have to stop talking every now and then and listen. Switch off the
Smart phone, let the phone call go through to message bank and turn off the
telly. Sit in silence, focus on a picture, or a candle or some quiet music,
whatever helps us to banish gently the thoughts about what to have for dinner,
what I should be doing instead of sitting here. Doing nothing, sitting in silence
can be hard, we are not used to it. Reciting a mantra, or breath prayer can
help the focus: for example, Lord Jesus Christ, grant me your peace, over and
over in time with our breathing, helps to still the mind. I particularly like:
be still and know that I am God. Over and over, for some minutes, in time with
your breathing. That’s meditating. It takes practice to keep from distracting
thoughts, but it’s very refreshing and allows us to listen to what God might be
trying to say to us. Gently push aside all the intrusive worries and thoughts
about dinner. With practice you can build up from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. Or
more.
God speaks to us in many ways.
Another way to open minds and hearts to God is through deep appreciation of his
creation: a walk in the garden or the bush, appreciating deeply what he has
made and what it reveals of his care and his power. Stare at the stars in the
night sky. Be really present in what you are doing, not thinking about what
we’ll be doing tomorrow.
Another way he speaks to us is
of course, through his word, scripture: reading a passage slowly until some
words seem to stand out, seem to really speak to us. Then concentrating on
those words, ruminating, chewing over them, asking God why they stand out. What
is God saying to me personally in those words?
Can I suggest that it is well
worth the time to spend time in prayer with God every day. Ideally spend time
with God at the start of each day before the world takes over our lives. Then
perhaps finish the day with a time of reflection on the day and where God has
been in it. Think about prayers you have said and answers you may have
received. It’s worth putting the day back into perspective before we sleep.
May the Lord be with you. Amen
Lesley Borowitzka, 16/10/16