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July 25,
2010
Pastor Judy Bangsund
"What
are you seeking?"
Luke 11:1-13
One of the things I enjoy most is to share an afternoon or evening
with family or friends - hopefully around a meal. That's the best
way to communicate. Sadly, these kinds of visits seem to be fewer
and farther between in modern life. Second best are phone calls and
letters, which have more recently given way to email, texting and
social networking. They work, but are not the same as face-to-face
encounters. What's the heart of all this? The desire to make contact
with someone. To share in that person's life. That's what prayer is:
making contact with God, sharing life with Him.
It's really as simple as that. But when you talk to people about prayer,
sometimes the conversation takes a different twist. Questions, such
as "Does prayer work?" are often behind those conversations. Such
questions are different from the desire to share your life with God.
"Does the phone work?" is a different question from, "Did so-and-so
answer the phone?"
What is prayer for you? For some of you, it may be about getting prayer
to work. For others, prayer may be a matter of developing a relationship
with God. Whatever prayer is for you, you are probably looking for
some answers. The answers you get depend, in part, on the questions
you ask. And as I read Jesus' teaching on prayer, I find that the
basic question is, "What are you seeking?" What is your ultimate goal,
when you pray? What do you hope to accomplish? Now, prayer is finally
a mystery. But in the 13 short verses that we heard read today, Jesus
gives an example, a parable, and some observations about prayer. Jesus
offers some answers for the who, the how and the why of prayer.
First, the who. What are you seeking? A winning team? Good
weather for your vacation? Health for a loved one? Protection from
harm? The impulse to pray often begins with a perceived need on our
part, ranging (at times) from the sublime to the ridiculous. And many
of our prayers are good ones - sincere, born of love and concern;
prayers that ask for good things. But in this passage, Jesus starts
- not with what - but with who. You've heard this
before, but it is so important that it bears repeating. Because the
who so often gets buried under the what.
What are you seeking when you pray? Jesus said start by seeking
the Father. The relationship of a child to its father is one of trust,
respect and obedience. Jesus teaches us to call God, Father.
You know the Lord's Prayer. You pray it at least every week. In today's
passage, we have a shorter version of the one we usually pray, found
in Matthew. In both versions, Jesus starts with "Father, hallowed
be your name, your kingdom come." This is the startup. This is the
way prayer boots up.
Now I'm anything but a computer expert. I have only the vaguest notion
of what the startup process involves. But I do know what happens if
that process doesn't follow it's normal sequence: the computer gets
hung up, and maybe it doesn't boot up at all. I know that the way
you start often determines the end result.
Prayer is primarily about a relationship with God. And Jesus
makes it personal saying, our Father. He is your holy
Father - his name, his reputation, is special, it's set apart; God
is different from you and me (who are not holy in the same way God
is). In praying to this holy Father, we place ourselves in a particular
position before him - as his children, in position of love, obedience
and humility. We kneel before him, not the other way around.
I think that's significant. One of the books I'm reading just now
(for a book club) is a best-seller called In God We Doubt: Confessions
of a Failed Atheist. The writer, a British journalist, has left
the Anglican faith of his childhood. But having thrown out the bath
water, he can't quite throw out the baby with it: he can't quite deny
the existence of God. So, neither a believer nor an atheist, he finds
himself in the frustrating no-man's-land of agnosticism - which is
an "I don't know" position. One of his complaints is what he calls
unanswered prayer. My take on his frustration, in part, is his position
before God - demanding God to do what he, as a human being,
deems reasonable. And this is not just the position of agnostics.
You and I, who are believers in Christ, sometimes place ourselves
in the same position.
Now, in the OT especially, you will find believers arguing with God.
Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. Today we read about Abraham
bargaining with God - but from a position of respect and trust. That's
very different from the position of this journalist, who comes before
God - not in humble trust - but as an arrogant and equal adversary.
Your startup determines your outcome. Our Father, hallowed be
your name. It sets you up in position to pray.
Prayer begins by seeking, not what, but who. Prayer begins
by seeking your holy Father. Then, and only then, can you bring to
him requests for your daily needs, forgiveness and the rest.
Our daughter, Sharon, has many friends from around the world. Two
of her best friends are from Ghana (Akosua) and The Netherlands (Francien).
On this particular occasion they were making a conference call among
the three of them, planning a reunion (the first in 8 years). Sharon
was really excited about this, so when she and Akosua got Francien
on the line, she started bubbling over with all the plans they had
made. But Akosua interrupted. "Sharon, stop." Then she said, in good
African style, "Francien, how are you? How's your mother?" And so
on, until all the pleasantries had been observed. But it was more
than that; Akosua was showing Francien their love and care for her.
Only then, did Akosua turn back to Sharon saying, "OK, Sharon. Now."
And Sharon went on to share their plans. In prayer, your requests
are important! But the way you start is just as vital and may even
change, not only the tone, but also the content of your prayer.
And how should you pray? Today Jesus addresses the how
with a parable, a story of a man who boldly and persistently knocks
on his friend's door until he gets what he asks. Jesus' point here
is not that you need to likewise batter down God's door, or twist
his arm until he does what you want. Rather, the point is that when
you have a good relationship with a trusted friend, you can ask anything
of him - you can ask boldly and persistently - because he
is your good friend. If that friend (however inconvenienced) will
help you, how much more will your patient and loving Father do the
same?
The how of prayer is found in the trust born of a good friendship.
Jesus' story says, "Of course you can trust God. You can bring anything
before him because he is even more approachable than a good friend."
Jesus drives home his point with an extravagant promise: ask, seek,
knock! How do you approach your Father? With confident assurance that
he is there for you and will hear your prayers. Ask, seek, knock -
but don't misunderstand. This is not the message some pop evangelists
proclaim, saying, "Do you want to be rich, successful, happy? Just
ask and God will do it." No. The rest of Scripture does not bear witness
to that message. Wealth, success and even happiness is not God's ultimate
gift for you and me. He has far greater gifts for you: faith, love,
peace - and the joy that follows. Maybe you are rich and successful;
give thanks to God! But God's will for you is so much more. And he
loves you enough that he will, on occasion, say "no" - also an answer
to prayer.
There is much more we could say here, but I'm going to leave it with
a simple quote from a book called, Too Busy Not to Pray by
Bill Hybels. He says, "If the request is wrong, God says, "No." If
the timing is wrong, God says, "Slow." If you are wrong, God says,
"Grow." But if the request is right, the timing is right and you are
right, God says, "Go!"
That little quote helps put a check on a coke-machine view of God.
You know: drop in a prayer and out pops your request. Is that the
kind of God you want? If your 10-year-old asks to take the
car out for a spin, he knows you will say no, and would perhaps lose
trust in you if you said yes. He depends on your wisdom and common
sense. Even with reasonable requests, you will not always say yes.
But as a parent, you do want your child to freely come and tell you
all his needs and desires. That opens the door so that your experience,
wisdom and love can help him grow in new ways. Check out Jesus and
the rich man. Jesus told him, "Go and sell all you have." Instead
of giving him the answer he wanted, Jesus challenged him to depend
on God more fully. There are many other, similar examples. God is
not a coke machine - he wants far more for you and has a greater plan
than you know. If we are honest with ourselves, that's really
what we want. A God who knows better and judges more wisely than we.
That's why you can come to him boldly, trusting that he will do better
than you want.
What are you seeking? Begin with who: seek your holy Father
and his kingdom. How do you seek? In bold and confident trust,
knowing that your Father is there for you, that He sees the bigger
picture, and is working out his will for and through you.
Who, how and then why. Jesus addresses one more question:
why pray? And the answer is simple: because God is good,
because he delights to give good gifts to his children - we are attracted
to him as bees to honey.
I find it interesting that this whole conversation did not begin with
Jesus saying to his disciples, "Listen up, guys. Today I'm going to
teach you about prayer." No. It all started because Jesus was already
praying; because he was in the habit of praying; because seeking his
Father was important to him. It made a difference in his life. His
disciples were attracted to that and finally asked, "Teach us
to pray, too." They saw that Jesus was on to something. They saw something
good, something powerful, something vital in Jesus' connection with
his Father, and were drawn to it. They were attracted to a relationship
with God.
Today, we ask: Lord, teach us to pray.
Why? Because God is good, and being in relationship with him is something
to be desired. Jesus didn't so much instruct that day, as invite.
Only 3 verses are really about content and curriculum; the rest is
invitation. It's not so much about method as it is about motive. It's
not a transaction, but a relationship - one that begins with God.
Rabbi Heschel says, "Contact with Him is not our achievement.
It is a gift, coming down to us from on high like a meteor, rather
than rising up like a rocket." I like that: a meteor, not a rocket.
British evangelist Leonard Ravenhill said, "A man may study because
his brain is hungry for knowledge, even Bible knowledge. But he prays
because his soul is hungry for God." It's that yearning for a God-connection
that leads you to pray. This is the work of God's Spirit in you.
Prayer: what are you seeking? The Bible consistently urges you to
seek God, the who more than the what. As he teaches
you to pray, Jesus puts a face on the God who said, long ago in the
Old Testament, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray; and seek my face and turn from their
wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin
and will heal their land." When you pray, seek God's face;
seek his will, and it will change your life. And this, my friends,
is the power of prayer!
This is so important. Don't miss the boat! Jesus prayed often, and
if Jesus prayed, how much more should we! And so I lay before you
a simple challenge: set aside 5-10 minutes daily for a month to seek
out your Father. (Let me know how it turns out for you.) Seek God
in prayer, following the model Jesus gave his disciples. Begin with
who: seeking your holy Father. How? In bold and
persistent trust, knowing that he is there and will answer your prayers.
Why? Because he is good, and will give you far better than
you can ask or think, because - as we have seen in Jesus - connecting
with your Father is a good and desirable thing. Share your life with
him; He has already shared his life with you, in Jesus. Amen.
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St.
Timothy's Lutheran
