Our Father Who Art in Heaven . . .

Luke 11: 1- 4 Marianne Niesen July 10, 2011

Before I begin today, I want to let you know that I have changed the scripture text for this morning. In the New Testament, there are two examples of Jesus teaching his disciples to pray and it is from here that we get our well-known Lord’s Prayer which is the focus for today. I decided rather late to use Luke rather than Matthew. They are very similar. Luke’s is a bit shorter and, since Matthew’s sounds much more like the prayer to which we are accustomed – the one we say every Sunday - I decided on the shorter, less familiar version.[1]

Listen . . .

Lord, teach us to pray! That request of the disciples did not come out of the blue. It was not a random thought from the rag-tag group of folks who called Jesus their friend and teacher. No, Luke tells us that the request came because the disciples saw Jesus praying. And, even more, they very likely saw that times of prayer mattered to Jesus, and made a difference in his life. They wanted that. They wanted that difference. Likewise, in Matthew’s gospel, the teaching of the Lord’s Prayer happened as part of the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus taught his followers about loving and forgiving enemies and caring for the poor and not judging others. He made it quite clear that his followers were to be different. They were to be people who offered forgiveness when it wasn’t deserved, proclaimed hope when fear threatened, put cooperation and compromise above the politics of the day. They were to be different. They were to find serenity in the midst of frenzy, focus on the good of the community before individual gain, and offer hospitality instead of hostility to strangers. His teaching on prayer, embedded here, was connected to fostering this kind of living which has never been easy or popular.

I think one of the reasons we hear that Jesus often went to the wilderness to pray or was praying in a certain place (as in today’s text) was because this stuff was hard for him too. If we take seriously what Jesus calls us to do in the world then we must also take seriously how he calls us to be in the world – that is, the attitude with which we must surround ourselves if we are to be generous, centered, focused, forgiving, loving disciples of Jesus in our day.

Show DVD Teach Us To Pray.[2]

Lord, teach us to pray! It was in response to that heartfelt plea from people he loved, that Jesus responded . . . when you pray, say this…

Whole books have been written, endless sermons have been preached, classes have been taught, retreats have been focused on each word, each line of the Lord’s Prayer. Lest you worry that I am going to attempt to do that now, let me assure you I am not. (That should feel like an answer to prayer right there!) Today, I simply intend to make a few observations about what we learn from the Lord’s Prayer and how it might help us in those moments when we too plead to know how to pray.

And the first thing to observe is that when we make such a plea, most of us are not so much interested in mechanics as we are in achieving what we see prayer providing for others. The disciples wanted the strength, courage, focus and love that they saw in Jesus and so he said . . . the first thing you need to do is stop what you are doing. When you pray- said Jesus – not if. Take the time. Stop – even if it just a moment or two.

Then, claim the relationship. Jesus presumed an intimacy with his God, calling God Father or Abba. Other Jews used the term. It was not unique to Jesus.[3] Standing firmly within his tradition, he reminded his followers of every age that his God in heaven was family. God had a name and could be called by name. There was a familiarity, a presumption of relationship. Some people think that because Jesus called God Abba or Father, we must as well. I’ve heard sermons and arguments that the only proper name for God is Father. But, I think that misses the fundamental point. Jesus’ words are much more about claiming a relationship than they are about cementing a title.

And then he said, Father, hallowed – holy – be your name. Translation - remember that God is God and you are not. You see, when we pray, we change the focus from us to the One who lives and loves beyond us. Perhaps that is the best definition of prayer . . . it is to change our focus, our attention, from ourselves to God, to the Spirit of Love whose power is greater and whose wisdom is beyond our best attempts to control our lives. Prayer is fundamentally an admission that we are not the center of the universe. I think one of the reasons we have trouble with prayer is because there is a part inside us that really thinks if we worked or tried harder, we could figure it out – whatever it is!

All prayer begins – no matter what words we use – by stopping, claiming the relationship and admitting that God is God and we are not.

Then, with our focus on God, we acknowledge God’s wisdom . . . may your kingdom, your vision for the world, be realized. Not my agenda, yours. Think about it – what would it be like if God’s vision for the world was the one toward which we worked? The whole point of prayer, from Jesus’ perspective, is that! Again, prayer is about moving ourselves from starring roles to being part of the supporting cast. It is about getting perspective.

With that perspective, we can then pray for ‘daily bread.’ We can ask for what we need. Daily bread was partly about food and partly about the other things needed for sustenance…like meaning and peace and hope and strength to get through.[4] It is always good to take time in our lives to consider just what ‘daily bread’ might mean for us – and it is also good to consider just what those things are that we want but don’t really need. We live in a culture that encourages us to want things we don’t need and to ignore the deepest needs that matter greatly. To pray is to re-focus and try to get that straight.

Among the things we most need are to be forgiven and to forgive. Again, there is a fundamental assumption here that we will always need forgiveness – and that offering forgiveness is part of being human. We will fall short and so will others. Deal with it and move on. Move on to ask for strength to get through the trials that will continue but need never have the final word.

One of the books I love on the Lord’s Prayer is by James Mulholland - Praying Like Jesus.[5] He actually wrote the book in response to another book that came out about 20 years ago called The Prayer of Jabez.[6] You may have seen it. You may have read it. It was part of the movement at the time about what was – and is - known as the prosperity gospel. Essentially, in 1 Chronicles, a man named Jabez prayed that God would ‘bless him, enlarge his territory and keep him from pain.’[7] Christians had a right to expect this, proclaimed the book. And, in a materialistic and self-centered culture, the whole idea was very attractive. The website will tell you there are 11 million of those books in print. Of course there are! We want to be blessed. But, more than that, the book plays into the notion that we think it is our right to blessed, to be the best, the richest, to have the most. Mulholland’s point was that Jabez got it wrong which is why Jesus, when asked to teach his disciples to pray, did not quote Jabez. He shared something entirely different. I love the titles of his chapters, which, in shorthand, is Jesus’ instruction on prayer . . . When you pray, Our Father, thy kingdom come, give us, forgive us, deliver us. Amen.

Hear me! There is nothing wrong with being blessed. The difficulty comes when the focus is on ourselves, on what we want and think we deserve. And it is that self centered focus on me, on my rights, my agendas that create the rampant anxiety, anger and discomfort that is so much a part of our lives. That was way of Jabez. But, there is another way. It is the way of Jesus and so he taught “when you pray, say Our Father, thy kingdom come, give us, forgive us, deliver us. Amen.

That is . . . take the time to call God by name. Claim the relationship. Dare to align your vision with God’s vision for the world, for your life, for your future. Then admit your real needs, ask for help, for forgiveness and for strength to cope with the challenges that are indeed out there. And then? Breathe. Which is simply another way of saying amen.

But, before we get too worried about even doing this correctly, consider yet another reflection on prayer . . .

"The proper way for a man to pray,"
Said Deacon Lemuel Keyes,
"And the only proper attitude
Is down upon his knees."

"No, I should say the way to pray,"
Said Reverend Doctor Wise,
"Is standing straight with outstretched arms
And rapt and upturned eyes."

"Oh, no, no, no,"
said Elder Slow,
Such posture is too proud.
"A man should pray with eyes fast-closed
And head contritely bowed."

"It seems to me his hands should be
Austerely clasped in front
With both thumbs pointing toward the ground,"
Said Reverend Doctor Blunt.

"Last year I fell in Hidgekin's well
Headfirst," said Cyrus Brown,
"With both my heels a-stickin' up
And my head a-pointin' down.

"And I made a prayer right then and there,
The best prayer I ever said,
The prayingest prayer I ever prayed,
A-standin' on my head." [8]

And so it is…in the end, it doesn’t matter which way we face or what words we use. Fundamentally prayer, the prayer of Jesus, is about changing our attention from ourselves to God. The prayer of Jabez was about Jabez. The prayer of Jesus was about a relationship. The amazing thing is that when we pray as Jesus taught, blessings abound. But they are blessings far more difficult to quantify than those counted by the followers of Jabez. They are the blessings of a more peaceful heart, a more focused life, a strengthening of relationships, the ability to cope, to slow down, to have hope, to experience love. That is the prosperity promised by Jesus and it is available to us all – whether we are kneeling, sitting, standing, raising our hands or stuck in a well. It just starts by remembering that God is God and we are not. Amen.

[1] Matthew 6: 9-15.

[2] If you are reading this sermon, you can find at watch the film clip free of charge at http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/mini-movies/10213/Teach-Us-To-Pray

[4] Ibid.

[7] 1 Chronicles 4: 10.

[8] The Prayer of Cyrus Brown by Sam Walter Foss