Today's
Scripture Reading (June 2, 2024): Colossians 4
One of the
comments I often get is that Christianity is more than just prayer; Christianity
is about action. I know what you are trying to tell me, but I respectfully
disagree. Christianity is all action; it is entirely about who we are and what
we do, but the action begins with prayer. Prayer is an action.
Part of the
problem is that we have a very childish idea of prayer. A story is about a
child saying his nighttime prayers with his mom. The child gets down on his
knees and then starts to pray his "God Blesses;" God bless mom, God
bless dad, and God bless my sister and that guy down the street who always
yells at me (the kid was brought up right and knew that he should even pray for
his enemies.) And then, as he gets close to the end of his prayer, his voice
gets louder. The young boy starts to shout at God, "And God, remember that
red bicycle that I want for Christmas." His mother stops his prayer at
this point. "Honey, you don't have to shout. God is not deaf." And
the child's response is, "I know that, but Grandma's going deaf." At
this point in the prayer, the boy has shifted from talking to God to sending a
message to his Grandma.
Sometimes, I
wonder if our prayers are not really prayers but have morphed into announcements
we make to the flesh and blood listeners gathered around us. I am not talking
to God but to everyone listening to me. For most of my life as a pastor, I have
struggled with the idea of a prayer chain. It is not that I don't believe in
prayer. I do. But too often, Prayer Chains become gossip chains. We must pray
for Sandy; she is hitting the bottle again. We need to pray for Stuart. He
needs a job, but he is so lazy. Pray that God gives him the kick in the behind
he needs. Come on, I know you have heard those prayers.
The word that
we have translated here as "devote," or that the King James translates
as "continue," really carries the meaning of "persevering in
prayer" or "praying continually." It is the same word that Paul
uses in Romans 12:12, which we have translated as faithful. "Be joyful in hope, patient
in affliction, faithful in prayer"
(Romans 12:12).
Matthew and
Luke both write about Jesus teaching his disciples to pray. But Luke adds a bit
of a different context. Here is the Lord's prayer, as recorded in Luke.
"'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
for
we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation'" (Luke 11:2-4).
But in Luke,
Jesus then launches himself into a story. Suppose you have a friend and go to
him at midnight and say to him. "A friend of mine just showed up. He is on
a journey, and he is hungry and I have nothing to give him to eat. Could you
give me three loaves of bread so that I can make him a meal?"
But your
friend says, "Go away. My door is already locked, and the children are
asleep. I can't give to you what it is that you want." Yet, because of
your shameless audacity and not because of your friendship, he will get up and
give you what you want. The lesson from Jesus seems to be that we are to be
persistent in our prayers because God wants to respond if we will only ask.
Jesus
finishes the parable with these words.
So I say to you: Ask and it will be
given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you fathers, if your son asks
for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask him (Luke 11:9-13)?
The mission is prayer. Not prayer as gossip or an announcement,
but communicating with God and telling him what we need and how we feel. Prayer
should be about sharing with the Creator of the Universe all the good and the
bad about us. Prayer is standing in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, naked
before God yet feeling no shame. Prayer is the most action we will ever commit
ourselves to because it is communication with the only one who can make the
impossible happen. Few of us ever get there. We are too intent on seeing prayer
as gossip or announcement. But here is the truth. If you want to use prayer as gossip,
there is no problem, but God is not listening. God stands in all of his glory
against gossip, so there is no way he will listen to communication that focuses
on making ourselves more and someone else less. In fact, his son went the
opposite way. He went from his throne in heaven and became nothing for our
sake. We can use prayer as an announcement, but God isn't paying attention to
that either.
But if you really intend to communicate with God, then he listens
and hears and moves. The movement might not be exactly what you expected or
wanted, but God is on the move because of our prayers. If your friend gives you
bread because of your shameless audacity, can you imagine what the Creator of
the Universe will do just because he hears you when you dare to talk to him?
Prayer does not support the mission. Prayer is the mission—something
that Paul knew, and we need to remember.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Philemon 1
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