What Are We Really Praying For? by The Rev. Donald L. Hamer
Posted on
Proper 12 - July 24, 2016
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Bloomfield, CT
Donald L. Hamer, Rector, Trinity Episcopal Church, Hartford
In last week’s Gospel lesson from Luke (10:38-42), we heard the story about Jesus’ visit with Martha and Mary. I was privileged to be the preacher as three of our Episcopal congregations – Trinity and St. Monica’s from Hartford and St. John’s from West Hartford – joined our brothers and sisters at Christ Church cathedral for a Jazz Mass offered as part of the Greater Hartford Jazz Festival. I observed that I think the way that story is often interpreted – that Martha is somehow less devoted to Jesus than Mary—I think is a bad rap on Martha. I think that story, properly interpreted, speaks about relationship with the Lord. Both Martha and Mary are devoted to Jesus – Martha is working diligently to be a good hostess and she actually refers to Jesus as “Lord.” Mary shows her devotion by listening to Jesus’ words. Jesus’ remarks to Martha are not so much a put-down of Martha as they are a reminder that everyone can and should be a disciple of Jesus’ teaching. Another point of that story is that in order to be faithful followers of Jesus, we all need to have both a “Martha” side and a “Mary” side – we need to be, as St. Paul reminds us, both hearers of the Word and doers of the Word to be faithful Christians.
This week’s passage, in which we hear one of the two original versions of the Lord’s prayer, is also about our relationship with God and how we nurture that relationship to the fullest. I’d like to take a few moments to explore our ideas about prayer and what Jesus has to tell us about prayer in this morning’s passage.
The passage begins with Jesus praying, and the disciples want to learn how to pray the way he does. Let me ask you by a show of hands, How many of you get a little nervous when someone asks you to pray out loud in a group of people? I know so many people who are not comfortable doing that. I suppose part of it is that we are Episcopalians and Anglicans – after all, we have this 600 page Book of Common Prayer – I think some of us think that unless you can construct a formal prayer like we can find in the BCP then it isn’t really a prayer.
Now academic types will tell you that there are several classical recognized styles of prayer, each of which has a particular function in our lives. Among the most common are:
n Adoration in which we praise the greatness of God, and we acknowledge our dependence on God in all things. The Gloria is a good example of this type of prayer.
n Confession, in which we acknowledge our sinfulness and ask God for forgiveness and mercy.
n Intercession or intercessory prayers are those we pray on behalf of others, asking God to intercede for healing or for some other hoped for outcome.
n Prayers of petition are the type of prayer with which we are most familiar. In them, we ask God for things we need—primarily spiritual needs, but physical ones as well. Our prayers of petition should always include a statement of our willingness to accept God's Will, whether God directly answers our prayer or not. The Our Father is a good example of a prayer of petition, and the line "Thy will be done" shows that, in the end, we acknowledge that God's plans for us are more important than what we desire.
n Prayers of Thanksgiving are perhaps the most neglected type of prayer. While Grace Before Meals is a good example of a prayer of thanksgiving, we should get into the habit of thanking God throughout the day for the good things that happen to us and to others. Developing this as a practice also helps us to be ever-mindful of God’s presence.
To be sure, there is one central characteristic of all of these forms of prayer, and that is ALL of them are centered on God. The question is, what do we understand God’s role to be in our prayer? A few examples help frame the question:
n When a football player scores a touchdown, when David Ortiz hits a towering home run, when a soccer player scores a goal – so often in athletic events when a player makes a great play, you will see him or her look to the sky and give thanks, or bless themselves, or some other symbol of devotion. What are they doing? Are they thinking that God wanted them to hit the home run? If so, what does that say about God when we think of the equally religious pitcher for the other team, who prays to the same God that he will pitch well. Does God like the home run hitter better than the pitcher?
n Or what about when we do what we have done ever since the 9/11 attacks, which is to sing “God Bless America” at many athletic events. Yes, folks, it is a beloved American song – it is also a prayer. What are we praying when we sing those words? Are we asking God to favor America over other countries, no matter what? Are we assuming that God already favors us, an assumption captured in a term we are hearing a lot in this election, “American Exceptionalism.”. If that is true, it can only mean that God does NOT favor other countries in the world who pray to the same God for THEIR countries.
n A final example, and perhaps the most difficult one – one that pastors face all of the time. When we pray for an outcome – a relative or friend is cured of a dread disease, a family member find a job, that there be good weather for a parish event – when the desired outcome happens, so often we give thanks to God. And it is good that we remember God in that moment. But think about the alternative: If the desired outcome does NOT happen, we must then wrestle with the question, Does God NOT WANT the person to be healed? Does God not want the person to find a job? Did God want the picnic to be rained out?
All of these examples are to challenge us to stop and think about what it is we do when we offer prayer, and what it is we expect of God. And so it is a gift that this morning we hear Jesus’ response to the disciples who ask him simply, “Lord, teach us to pray.” We know this prayer so well that I think sometimes we can forget how powerful it is:
Father, hallowed be your name. Jesus teaches us that fundamental teaching of our baptismal covenant, that by adoption and our relationship with Jesus, we are children of God, in intimate relationship with him. That is the point of the concluding words of today’s passage – that as much as we would do anything for our children, so God will do even more for us. It also says that God is holy – above all things and to be praised above all things.
Your kingdom come. In Jesus, God’s reign has come near. And yet the kingdom of God has not yet arrived here on earth. We pray for a more complete realization – that all people will come to know God, and that God’s kingdom, as understood in the life and teaching of Jesus the Christ, will be more fully realized here on earth.
And then there are three prayers of petition for three essential needs:
Give us each day our daily bread. Be with us as we seek all that we need in our daily lives, just as you provided for your people as they wandered through the desert. May what we seek be not simply for our OWN sustenance and benefit, but to sustain us on our journey with God as followers of Jesus, to God’s glory in helping make that Kingdom come alive in our world.
And forgive us our sins, as we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. Jesus assures us of God’s forgiveness, even as he reminds us of our need to engage in the never-ending process of forgiving those who have hurt us. This is also a part of making God’s kingdom come – engaging in the work of reconciliation among all of God’s creation.
And do not bring us to the time of trial. Because of the translation used in our traditional Lord’s Prayer (which I understand we will sing this morning), we usually think of this in terms of avoiding situations in which we may sin. And certainly this is a part of it, when we understand “sin” as anything that separates us from the love of God and relationship with God. But Jesus probably meant something broader than that – asking for protection from circumstances that test or endanger our faith, such as religious persecution. But such circumstances could also be those times when we have asked God for a specific result and that result has not materialized. When we’re honest with ourselves, those times test our faith also, and it is this that Jesus is also referring to here.
So what do we learn from this morning’s Gospel – what is the Good News? Jesus’ teaching on how to pray sums up who God is and our relationship with God as known in the person of Jesus the Christ. He teaches us that the purpose of prayer is not to pressure God into doing what we want, but to encourage us to find in our prayers what God knows we truly need. Prayer enlarges our world beyond that which we can see and comprehend to understand ourselves as part of that Jesus Movement that brings God’s kingdom ever closer. It draws us to two prayers that actually DO come from our Book of Common Prayer with which I will close:
Almighty God, to whom our needs are known before we ask, help us to ask only what accords with your will; and those good things which we dare not, or in or blindness cannot ask, grant us for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.