In Jesus Holy Name April 15, 2007
Text: Luke 11:1-4 Easter II - Redeemer
“Prayer With A Purpose”
In Luke, Chapter 4 we have a short version of the Lord’s Prayer. A nameless disciple has been watching Jesus for some time. We don’t know exactly how long he has observed Jesus’ life, but we do know that he is impressed by his prayer life. He comes to Jesus and asks a serious question: “Lord, will you teach us how to pray.”
Now the disciples were good Jewish men. They had many, many prayers memorized which they used at least three times a day. Yet this disciple’s question tells us he is a man who wants to grow and he wants to know how to pray with more depth and meaning. Something about the way Jesus prays has caught his attention. Who better to learn from than Jesus, himself.
(An Exercise)
Right where you are, sit up straight. Put down your notebook, your pencil or anything you have to hold. Make sure your spine is completely straight. Now, relax. Gather yourself in, so to speak. Be completely together in the place where you are. Let any stress or anxiety slide away. Be at peace. Now feel the light of God’s presence shining on you, feel God’s blessing coming upon you. Accept that blessing. Then breathe in deeply and breathe out deeply. Take one or two breaths, feel the rhythm of it. Next, speak to the Lord, inwardly. You might say to God silently, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. We have already begun to pray.
In Mark 1:35 the scriptures tell us “that in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.” There can be no doubt that he grew up praying the Psalms. The Psalms were the hymn book and prayer book for the synagogue.
The writer to the Hebrews writes: “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” We can hardly hear this phrase enough. “Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death.” Why then, when we pray this way, do we feel it as a failure? It is not.
When Jesus begins, “Father, hallowed be your name” it is a reminder that God knows each of us by name. God is not some impersonal power who created the universe and holds it in place and has left humans on earth to fend for themselves. No – A thousand times NO.
“Jesus said one day to his disciples . . . ‘what would you think if I told you God notes every time a wounded sparrow falls to the ground and dies? No matter how low your self esteem, you are of more value than a sparrow.’ So if God notices what is happening to birds, don’t you think He notices what is happening to you? He not only notices, He cares. God knows each of us by name.”
He invites. He wants us to talk with Him. He wants to hear from us. He is a loving Father and so Jesus begins his teaching in prayer with the word Abba, hallowed be your name. Dad, may your name be kept holy in my life. Jesus knows that in baptism we each have been adopted into God’s family. It is proper and right that we can talk to God and know him as a loving, caring Father. As all children address their Father, so we, too, can call him Dad. He wants to be addressed as “Dad” the writer to the Hebrews writes: ”Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy, and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (4:16)
Martin Luther stated: “Prayer is not optional” “The 2nd commandment teaches us to call upon God in every need.” It is not a matter to be left to our choice … for by prayer the name of God is honored.
Prayer – It is our connection with our loving, caring Father. Prayer takes time. Prayer takes words. Your feelings. And when you find no words to speak, no words to sing – Paul writes: When “we do not know what to pray for, the Spirit (of God) Himself intercedes for us with groans that (human) words can not express.” Romans 8:26-27 He searches our hearts … The Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
There are all kinds of prayer. Each daily devotion in the Portals of Prayer has prayers for morning and evening – as well as each day. The hymnal has prayers for each Sunday in the church year. There are hymns which you can sing, which become your prayer.
The Order of Matins: Did you know that the service we are using today – The Order of Matins is a prayer service? It is a form of prayer that includes scripture readings, psalms and hymns, which were used every morning in monasteries that dates from the 6th or 7th century.
It is the duty of every Christian to pray. In the middle ages, because most people could not read, prayer services, like the Order of Matins or Vespers were developed, easy to memorize, and provided a form for public and private prayer.
Or, The Prayer of St. Francis:
“Lord, make me a channel of your grace.
Where there is hatred let me show love
Where there is injury, pardon
Where there is doubt, faith
Where there is darkness, light
It is in giving that we receive
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”
Do you know this prayer?
What a friend we have in Jesus
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
Do you know this prayer?
Lord, keep us steadfast in your word.
Curb those who by deceit or sword
Would wrest the kingdom from your Son
And bring to naught all he has done.
O comforter of priceless worth (to whom are we praying?)
Send grace and unity on earth
Support us in our final strife
And lead us out of death to life.
Do you look for words to address your father in heaven?
Immortal, invisible God only wise
In light inaccessible Lord from our eyes
Most blessed, most glorious, Ancient of Day
Almighty victorious thy great name – I praise
How about an evening prayer before bed time (278), besides “Now I lay me down to sleep….”
“All praise to thee my God this night
for all the blessing of the Light
Keep me, oh, keep me, King of Kings
Beneath thine own almighty wings.
Forgive me, Lord for thy dear Son
The ill that I this day have done
Teach me to live that I may dread
The grace as little as my bed
Teach me to die so that I may rise
Glorious at the awesome day.
Abraham prayed. Gen. 18:22-33 (read)
“Abraham prayed. He came to the Lord again and again, asking for more, basing his requests on the Lord’s righteousness. Did his persistence in prayer save Sodom – There were not ten righteous people in the city. Did His prayer change God’s mind? Did God change Abraham’s mind? By the end of his prayer, Abraham believed God would act consistent with His own righteous character. A few pathetic, righteous people (Abraham’s nephew and daughter) were saved.” (Long Wandering Prayer, p. 96
Jesus teaches us to pray. God wants to enter into our human history. “Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will receive you and you will honor me. Ps. 50:15
For years Europeans have told the story about citizens who prepared to crown their king. Crowds lined the streets to see the new king pass in procession. A 12 year old boy began pushing his way through the crowd. He was able to get as far as the guards and tried to get past them too. The guards stopped him and said, “You cannot get through here; don’t you know this man is the king?” The little boy replied, “He may be the king, but he is also my dad!”
We can approach God’s heavenly throne with the same confidence as this 12-year-ld boy who went directly to his father, the king. Through Jesus Christ we are adopted children of God (Galatians 3:4-5).
Jesus makes it possible for us to speak with God. He has removed the sin-barrier between us and God. He makes it possible for us to approach the Creator of the world with even our smallest concern. When we begin each prayer conversation with God by seeing His love and grace in Jesus, we can then pray with joy. “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice! … Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication WITH THANKSGIVING let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:4, 6).
