Let's Pray

What is prayer, how are we meant to do it, and perhaps most importantly, why?

In various Bible passages we read of people praying, and time and again in the Gospels we see Jesus praying. In today’s Gospel (Luke 11. 1-13) we see Jesus encouraging his followers to pray.

Daily the Son of God spoke with and listened to God the Father. Jesus‘ earthly life was constantly shaped and powered by the relationship he had with his Father in heaven. If it was important to Jesus, it is probably important to us too.

Jesus taught his disciples to ask and it we be given, search and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. It appears that there is a promise involved, if you pray you will receive a reply.

Does this sound too good to be true? And what of all those times that you have prayed and not seen the answers asked for? Perhaps we need to remember three things here, firstly, our prayers may well get answered, but not just yet. Secondly, they may be answered in ways we have yet to see. And thirdly, we are living in a time where whilst Jesus’ resurrection announces the breaking in of God’s Kingdom, and although God has won the ultimate victory over the power of sin in our world, the battle still rages on.

Consequently, God’s will can be, and often is, thwarted. So again, why pray?

Prayer is fundamentally about a relationship And it is through our relationships with God that the Kingdom of God will be fully established. The value of persistence in prayer is not that God will finally hear us, but that we will finally hear what God is saying.

A relationship without speaking and listening will not flourish. God is at work bringing in the Kingdom. We can ignore God and build our own kingdoms, but they will fail and come to nothing. Or we can pray, join in what God is doing, and succeed.

So, prayer matters, but what is it?

Prayer is a conversation with God. And like our own conversations with each other, prayer can be a place of solace, or inspiration, or transformation. Prayer often starts where are human capacity ends.

This Sunday’s Old Testament reading (Genesis 18. 20-32) describes the to and fro of a conversation between God and Abraham. We see how Abraham wants to express something important, and God chooses to listen and respond to what Abraham is saying.

God’s will was not thwarted, read further to see what happens, but neither was Abraham ignored or devalued. Like many other encounters between God and people that we read in the Bible here we see something of God’s nature and approach. We see the fundamental importance God places on engaging in the messy stuff of human life, rather than just ignoring us and doing whatever God wants.

No, this is not the most efficient way of getting things done. Yes, this will lead to wrong turns and poor choices. But this is also a way that prioritises relationships over results, and it is in our relationship with God that we will ultimately become who God always intended us to be.

The Psalm set for today, Psalm 138, is a song of praise for prayer answered. The psalmist had seen God’s faithfulness and that experience put a song in their mouth and strength in their soul. “In the day that I called upon you, you answered me.”

Written by David, when dealing with kings from other nations, the psalm expresses great praise to God the one true King. We see the relationship that David enjoys with God, the God who can be trusted, the God who listens, the God who preserves and the God who makes good on promises.

The God who disarms world rulers and authorities, and triumphs over them.

This is our God, the one whom we are invited into a relationship with. The one who we are invited to relate with in prayer.

So, if that’s why to pray and what prayer is, let’s think about how to pray.

Back to today’s Gospel, and Jesus’ teaching his followers. In response their request for guidance Jesus walks them through the Lord’s Prayer. This is not to be understood as a prescribed text. You do not have to stick to the words of the Lord’s Prayer, though many of course may choose to. It is however a really good template, model or example, that shows us the key elements in prayer.

That we can speak to God, that we are invited into an intimate informal relationship. Approaching God we recognise God’s holiness, that whilst up close and intimate God is without fault, and to be revered.

We ask for God’s will to be done (not ours) and for God to give us that which we need (for today) including protection for that which draws us away. Recognising that we do go astray, we ask for forgiveness, not forgetting that we are called to forgive others.

A simple model used by the team at Lectio 365 is P – R – A – Y.

Pause to be still before the God of all things

Rejoice in that relationship

Reflect on what God has spoken, perhaps in the Bible

Ask God for what we need

And then yield to God’s way, come what may.

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