From our earliest memories of kneeling by the bed and saying, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. If I should live another day, I pray the Lord will guide my way,” followed by the customary “God bless” list: Mommy and Daddy, brother and sister, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Tillie, Uncle Bob, the dog, the cat, the hamster and the parakeet; to saying Grace at the dinner table and memorizing the Lord’s prayer, the personal and private act of prayer has, hopefully, been a significant part of your life.
What role does prayer play in your life today? How often do you pray? For what do you pray? For how long do you pray? The Old Testament and Gospel lessons today shed some light on the importance of prayer in our daily lives and remind us of the “who, what, when, where why and how” of this poignant and personal dialogue with our Father.
We live in a fast paced, highly mobile and technological world that values any process that makes communication quick, to the point and impersonal. Voice mail. Email. Pagers. Faxes. Answering machines. Text messages where they even abbreviate words. Computerized response systems. Little attention is given to human interaction on the phone anymore! And, as I’ve found out on many occasions, for good reason. Be careful what you wish for!
Here’s an example of what I went through earlier this week. “Thank you for calling XXX department store.” “Please press 1 for the main menu.
Please press 1for English or 2 for Spanish.
Enter your 19-digit account number.
Enter the 3 digit card verification number.
Enter the last four of your SSN.
Please wait while I retrieve your account information.
All our customer service representatives are currently assisting other customers. Please do not hang up. Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received.”
(5 to 10 minutes later (if you’re lucky), a human with a distinct foreign accent introduces himself. “May I have your 19 digit account number, sir?”
“But I just gave that to the computer voice to “expedite the call.”
“Yes sir, but I need to verify it for security purposes.” So I give it to him again.
“And may I have the 3-digit number on the back of your card, sir?”
“But, I gave that to the other voice too!”
“Yes sir, additional security verification is necessary.” “Okay. Okay.”
“And, Lastly sir, may I have the last 4 of the primary card holders SSN?”
“I know. I know. Security, right?” “Yes sir. Thank you.”
“Now, Mr. Brockhouse, is your home address still……………….?”
“Wait a minute. The computer didn’t even ask for that!”
“Yes, sir. Thank you. We are updating your records.”
“Is 555 555 5555 still the correct phone number?” “Yes”
“Great.” “Now, how may I be of assistance to you?”
“Well, to tell you the truth, I’ve been on this phone for so long I forgot!”
“Oh I’m sorry, sir. Let’s go through some of the options and maybe it will help you remember.”
“No thanks. I think I’ll just go online where I don’t have deal with a human. “
The business world has a “BE-ATTITUDE” about communication today; especially that which takes place online, via email; Be Brief. Be Bright. Be Gone! If you are faced with human customer service on the phone, the only one of the 3 “B’s” that would apply is that you hope to “BE-Gone” before you get to your next birthday! Fortunately, for those who remember and rely on PRAYER in their lives, you don’t need to wait on “hold” for God to hear you. You don’t need to “leave and message and He’ll get back to you.” You don’t even need to identify yourself (believe me, God knows who you are!). And, you don’t need to Be Brief, Be Bright or Be Gone. But there are some useful “BE-ATTITUDES” about the process of praying that can make the experience more meaningful.
Jesus gave us eight valuable lessons to guide us down a path of godly living. We call them the Beatitudes. As Jesus enumerated these he used the word “Blessed” before each one, magnifying the personal benefit one derives from such a walk of faith.
Today I’d like to offer up some “Be-Attitudes” about prayer for the same purpose – to remind you of the personal benefit, comfort and spiritual enlightenment you get from having a regular, ongoing and faith-lifting conversation with the Father.
Be right. Pray for the RIGHT reasons and in the RIGHT way. Jesus gave the disciples the “model” for the right way to pray. The “Lord’s prayer” is a template for how to pray; an outline of the manner in which to address the Father and to express our dependence on Him for everything in our life. It’s personal. It’s intimate. It’s a prayer of recognition and thanksgiving for what we have received. It’s a prayer for guidance as we maneuver through life in a broken world. It’s a prayer for forgiveness – ours and others. It’s a prayer to reinforce our understanding of God’s master plan for this world and for all life.
Be humble. In the OT lesson for today, you may think that Abraham wasn’t “humble,” given his willingness to bargain with the Father over whether to save Sodom and Gomorrah. But in his conversation with God he establishes his humility when he says, “I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes.” (Gen 18:27) In every prayer we should bring our requests in humility, knowing that it is through God’s grace and desire that we are invited into a relationship with Him. We don’t pray from a point of advantage or leverage. We pray for mercy, not on merit. We pray out of love for continued love, from God and for others.
Be thankful. Pray in thanksgiving at all times. In spite of difficult and dire times; despite hurt, pain, suffering or loss, be thankful for His boundless love and mercy, acknowledge His intercession in our lives, seek His loving grace upon the lives of others in need.
Be patient. While some prayers may be short and others long, the purpose of prayer is not a means to an end. It’s not the quantity of words or length of prayer; it’s the content and the character of the conversation that builds within two people who want to get to know each other better. It’s a dialogue that begins with our TRUST in Him that He will listen and answer our prayers. It’s anchored on the faith of “Thy will be done,” and it’s emboldened and heartened by the promise that HE will take into account our requests. Patient prayer recognizes that prayer is more than an end result that answers everything we ask of God. It is an inspired appeal wrap in a blessed opportunity to bend the ear of God.
Be persistent. If prayer is to be patient – to the point that the outcome may or may not be what we expect when we expect it - we should also be persistent. Abraham followed his prayer for the sin-filled people of Sodom and Gomorrah with 5 more requests, each designed to save the cities from disaster. Did it work? Some would say no since God destroyed the cities anyway. But I would suggest that God listened to Abraham. God heard the compassion in Abraham’s voice. He recognized the unselfishness in Abraham’s request. HE knew the strength of Abraham’s faith and trust in Him. God granted Abraham more than he could have expected. He allowed those who believed in Him to escape, Lot and his daughters.
Be bold. If we are right, humble, thankful and patient in prayer, we will know HOW to BE Bold before God. We will approach boldness with a clear understanding of complete trust and unwavering faith in God’s judgment and authority. Being bold is not a license to approach God with an attitude of superiority or a perception that something is OWED to us – that somehow because we are Christian followers we “deserve” to have our prayers answered. Boldness in prayer with God comes from a right and confident, long-term and privileged relationship with Him that admits our sinful condition, exposes our reliance on His grace and mercy, and acknowledges in fullness of faith that the outcome is in all ways what is best for us as seen through the eyes of the Father who truly does know best.
Be unafraid. Lastly, while we should not approach prayer with a false air of superiority, neither should we be afraid. God wants to develop a personal relationship with each of His children. The Father listens to all of our prayers. He’s not overwhelmed by the volume of prayers emanating from Christians all over the world. He’s thrilled by it.
As each of us finds the who, what, when, where why, and how of a personal prayer life with The Father, we should not be fearful of the words coming out right or think that our prayers will not be heard. The Holy Spirit works in us to set our message right, to give our voice strength, humility and confidence as we open that poignant and personal dialogue with the Father.
There is no shortage of subjects about which we should be praying. From personal and family trials, pain and suffering, to the plight of so many fellow human beings around the globe, the need for prayer is painfully evident. Pick up the daily paper or listen to any of the “instant” news channels and you are confronted with a seemingly endless supply of souls who need God’s help and our prayers.
Right here in our own community we should pray for the little children, over 25,000 in number who have been neglected, abused, beaten or killed in an escalating spiral of child abuse. The homeless that congregate near busy intersections and sleep under overpasses or drift aimlessly along the river walk; the misguided sinners who have fallen victim to the ravages of AIDS or drug addiction in our society; the young people and families of those in gangs; the impoverished, malnourished, forgotten people; each soul has a story, each soul needs a “knock” on God’s door, each soul seeks relief though they may not know where to look.
From the killing fields of Iraq and the Middle East, to the carnage and genocide of Darfur, from the ominous threat of nuclear war and the annihilation of our freedoms, to the tragic and terrible consequences of acts of nature and man-made destruction, people everywhere, people just like you and me, need prayers on their behalf. We need look no further than the sad events of the bridge collapse in Minnesota this past week to see the devastation that takes place each and every day in the lives of all people who live in a broken world.
There is much to pray about, much more than may be covered over the dinner table or just before we go to bed, or only when we go to church on Sunday. The Bible makes it very clear and Jesus demonstrated over and over again, (unlike the garbled, endless directions we get from that automated voice system). We should “Pray often.”
Jesus gave us some helpful hints to guide us in the “who, what, when, where, why and how” of prayer. He also gave us these encouraging words that cast a loving security blanket around the process of prayer; words that tear down our sinful thoughts that “God will do whatever He wants, no matter what we want,” or “Why should I waste my time praying, He’s too busy to hear me.” “Ask and it will be given unto you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11: 9-10)
How often do you pray? For what or whom do you pray? How do you pray? If you are seeking a powerful, personal and loving relationship with the Father that grows and grows with each day, you don’t need the phone or the internet, a pager or a text message. You don’t even need a script. You just need the “BE-Attitudes” of prayer in your heart. Then Knock on His door. He’s waiting to hear from you. That’s a promise wrapped in a blessed security blanket, given as a gift through the gracious and loving heart of God. Amen.
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