St. Michael and All Angels
We seek to be a light of Christ in the community, where all are welcome to experience God's love and blessings.

July 24, 2022 - Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12)

I suspect that, to most of us, prayer is a puzzle. I’m not sure that most of us even know why it is that we pray. Many people pray as a form of sanctified wish fulfillment. It’s like we think of prayer as a way of having all our dreams come true… if we pray in the right way. I know that listening to my son’s prayers at night, when we pray for people in our lives, that occasionally he asks for better toys and sometimes even prays that they won’t break. (Well, after he prays for Daddies and Grandma and his friends and teachers!)

Other people reject prayer altogether as a remnant from the days when people thought God was directly responsible for all the things in the world - the weather, violence and peace, and even how much money we had. Those people think it’s just a mind game that we’re playing with ourselves.

I think the solution to our understanding of prayer lies somewhere in the middle between self-interest and cynicism.

Today’s Gospel reading contains three teachings about prayer. The last, and the one that we probably hear the most is, “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Lk 11:9-10). We hear it, and yet, I think, we aren’t sure what to make of it. Those who pray for their self-interests find in this statement a promise that their wishes will be granted. The other extremists simply reject this statement. It - like so many things in the Bible - is problematic at best. After all, who among us hasn’t had the experience of praying for something that seemed right and good, only to not receive it? So what do we make of this?

From the first disciples to those of today, we all need to ask, “Teach us Lord to pray.” It’s important to note that the passage on prayer begins with Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. In comparison with the version in Matthew, this version is much shorter. It seems that this makes it even more clear that Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come. So I think the first clue to understanding “everyone who asks receives” is that all of our praying must be an expression of seeking first God’s kingdom. 

The second teaching we have about prayer is in the story of the friend at midnight. The man has received unexpected guests, and not to be hospitable and offer them food would be a serious embarrassment. So he asks his neighbor to borrow bread. Of course, the neighbor objects, but Jesus says, “because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs” (Lk 11:8).

There are a couple things we have to understand about this exchange. First, the writer of Luke really likes to emphasize the importance of persisting in prayer and not giving up. It’s a good thing. The second point here is that Jesus is NOT saying that God gives begrudgingly when we pester God with our prayer. The truth is that Jesus assured us that we don’t have to be afraid of approaching God with our prayers with the right words or at the right time; we can be bold and shameless in our requests to God at any time. And the answer to the man’s “prayers” was to be given what he needed. We can be confident by this parable that there is a friendship between God and us, and we can approach God as a friend, even waking God up from a deep sleep. And we can pray knowing that God already knows our needs and is already working in each of our lives for our best interest.

We see this confirmed in the third teaching when Jesus compares prayer to a child asking for something from a parent. Jesus acknowledged that, for the most part, we parents want what is best for our children. Even we who are flawed and fallible parents “know how to give good gifts to [our] children” (Lk 11:13). How much more can we trust that God who loves us unconditionally is working within our lives with grace before we even know that we have a need. And so when we pray, we do so with assurance that we do not need to somehow get God’s attention.

We need to admit that prayer isn’t putting our coins in a vending machine. It’s not putting our prayer in the right slot, pushing the right button, and waiting for the vending machine of God to spit out exactly what we want. God isn’t a vending machine. God is Father. God is Mother. Mommy. Daddy. And prayer is a relationship - an intimate, loving, caring parent/child relationship.

I imagine that many of you who are parents can remember the first time your child uttered “dada” or “mama” . It was the start of a new relationship. The child knew who you were and called you by name. How exciting! At that stage, we care for our children, giving them what they need, even before they ask.
As the child aged, “Daddy” or “Mommy” often got followed by “I want.” Sometimes we’d answer “Yes.” Sometimes we’d answer “No.” But most of the time (far more than we’d like to admit), we’ d answer… “We’ll see.” I think God answers our prayers, too, with “We’ll see.” 

What exactly do we mean by “We’ll see”? Sometimes it’ s just a nicer way of saying “No.” We don’t want to hurt the child’s feelings or address the question now, and we hope that later the child will have forgotten all about the request.
Sometimes, though, it can really mean, “We’ll see.” Maybe Daddy doesn’t know right now if he can afford what you want. Maybe Mommy doesn’t know if you’re able to understand all the implications about what you ask for - a new rifle, a new bicycle, a make-up kit, a puppy, or even $1,000. Often God’s answer of “We’ll see” is precisely this - God knows that we can’t really handle whatever it is we’re asking for.

Prayer, most of all, is a relationship - a child with parents, friends talking to one another. Sometimes we are able to meet the needs of our friends. But there are many times and perhaps their most important requests, where we can do nothing to change the situation. “I’m out of work - can you get me a job?” “I’ve got cancer - can you make it better?” “I’m so depressed that I don’t know if I’ll ever be happy again - can’t you do SOMETHING to help me?” 

Sometimes when bad things happen to people we love, we just don’t know what to do or what to say. My prayer today is for God to show us all that the fear of not saying or doing the right thing in these situations must not keep us away. Sometimes the most appropriate thing to give to people is our presence.

Prayer is a relationship. It’s the presence of Daddy or Mommy, not always saying or doing things that change the situation, but their presence can often change you as it brings their comfort and love to the situation. And with their support, perhaps you are better able to accept what lies in the future. You can live with the uncertainty of God saying, “We’ll see...” patiently waiting together to see what will happen.

Prayer is the presence of God - not the assurance that God will always change the situation. But knowing that God is with you, that God is going through the tragedy or suffering or depression, or even death, with you, not as a far off God way off in space, but as your very close and loving parent. Jesus assured us that we can pray for all of our concerns, knowing that God knows our needs and is already working in each of our lives to bring grace and peace, and mercy and love, and new life.

I found a retranslation of our Lord’s Prayer from the Aramaic in which it was originally written. I invite you to pray with me.

O cosmic Birther, from whom the breath of life comes,
who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration.
May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.
Your Heavenly Domain approaches.
Let Your will come true in the universe just as on earth.
Give us wisdom (understanding, assistance) for our daily need,
detach the fetters of faults that bind us, like we let go the guilt of others.
Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations),
but let us be freed from that which keeps us from our true purpose.
From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act, the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.
Sealed in trust, faith and truth. Amen.