Prayer:  A Declaration Of Dependence

"I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;  for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you;

and they have believed that you sent me

Prayer:

What is Prayer? Just make a mental note of your answer. A prayer a day keeps the blues away. According to the British Journal of Health Psychology, daily prayer wards off depression. Researchers found that people who prayed daily or often were more likely to report lower depression, lower anxiety and higher self esteem than those who hardly ever prayed.

Add this to the research carried out some time ago, in which groups of hospital patients were prayed for by members of the local church. There the researchers found that those who were prayed for did significantly better than those who were not prayed for. And it was a double blind trial, so that those who were praying knew only the names of those they were praying for, and none of the hospital patients knew whether or not anyone was praying for them.

So there we have it, scientific proof that prayer really does work. But not so fast, my friends, prayer doesn’t heal all physical ailments. Does God pick and chose who to heal or not? So what happen when some prayers are not answered as we wished? Does it nullify the power of prayer or the power of God to answer prayer?  I do not personally think so. The trouble is, it isn't easy to pray.

Even those who were physically with Jesus throughout his ministry, found prayer difficult.  They watched him as he communed with God, and saw the result of that prayer in his life and in his work, and on at least one occasion in the radiance of his face too. Yet they said to him, "Lord, teach us how to pray." So Jesus taught them the Lord's Prayer.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus has just had his final, farewell meal with his disciples and this is his final speech. The usual practice in such a situation was for the leader to issue final instructions to his disciples, so that the group would continue after his death. But Jesus doesn't address his disciples, instead he addresses God. His final speech is a prayer to God.

Interestingly, Jesus begins by praying for himself. Then moves on to pray for other people and other situations. Jesus goes on to place the future of the Christian community firmly in God's hands. So the future of the community is not entrusted to the community itself, but is turned over to God. It's quite a comforting thought that no matter how much we in the church may succeed or fail, the future of the church is not really in our hands, but in God's hands.

The tone of this prayer of Jesus is very personal. He addresses God as someone whom he knows very intimately indeed, and as someone whom he trusts implicitly. And in the prayer Jesus weaves together the past, the present and future into a kind of timelessness, which he suggests is available for all those who love God.

If we read it right through, it's a long prayer and sounds quite wordy. But it's a prayer which has a reflective, contemplative character and words and phrases are quite often repeated. This prayer of Jesus is quite different from the Lord's Prayer, which is short and easily remembered, so perhaps here we have some clues about how to pray. There are many different types of prayer and many different approaches to prayer, and therefore there's no one way which is either right or wrong.

Public prayer, prayer which somebody leads in church or in a prayer group on behalf of a congregation, is quite different from private prayer. So liturgical prayer, the prayer of church worship, is usually more formal than private prayer.

As Jesus showed, the language of private prayer is very intimate and personal. Sometimes words must be used, because if there's something which is deeply troubling and find it difficult to get it off our chest without speaking the words aloud in our mind. That sort of prayer would probably use the everyday language we would use to a friend or a member of your family: "Help me, God, I need you!"

Churchy language is appropriate in church, but is usually inappropriate in private prayer, because if you're speaking intimately to someone you need to use informal language. So private prayer is our own personal thought addressed to God in our own personal way, however inadequate that may feel at times.

At other times prayer may be utterly silent, with no words at all. We know that Jesus spent a huge amount of time in prayer, but we have very few of his spoken prayers, so we can assume that a great deal of his time was spent in with God.

Whatever the sort of prayer you prefer, there need to be some time for silence so that God has space to speak to us. The deeper we get into prayer the more it tends to be listening prayer rather than speaking prayer. In society we don’t like to wait. We don't want to wait for the red light, but waiting in silence is prayer in itself.

That silence may be when we're outside gardening, or enjoying a view, or looking at a picture, or out for a walk. It may be while we're ironing, or painting the shed, or washing the car. Or it may be in deliberate meditation.

If you find silence difficult, it's worth investing some time in learning to relax. For if my brain goes into overdrive or if I fill every moment of silence with some external noise, even music, then it becomes very difficult for me to hear God's voice.

Another point worth noticing is that, it's important to pray expecting results. Jesus prayed very specifically for his disciples, and clearly expected his prayers to be heard and acted upon. Yet he didn't ring-fence his prayers. He didn't make requests which held God hostage, or which told God what to do and how to do it.

He didn't lay down conditions. Rather he opened up his thinking to God, then placed his friends in God's hands. "I ask you to save them from the Evil One," he prayed, "and to sanctify them (set apart) in the truth."

If I make my prayers too specific I'm doomed to disappointment, for God acts in ways which I can't begin to imagine. Isaiah the prophet says:

“ For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways  higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

But if I hold those people or situations I'm praying for in God's presence, and then hand them over to his care, I allow God space to respond all in God's time. It takes real faith to hand things over to God, because it is our nature to tell God what to do. Therefore: Prayer for me is a declaration of dependence on God.

Prayer is a lifeline to God. When prayer becomes real and we begin to expect and to experience a real response, life becomes both very exciting and a little scary, for we never know what God may ask us to do. When God becomes God in our prayer life.  We'll soon discover the transforming power of prayer in our life.

The secret of the church is God…not any particular person we like to put people on a pedestal. That is not God's way. God is going to build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it and no person will get the glory for it.  For this reason Jesus prays for the community of believers. God always has the success. Not us. You and I are not irreplaceable or indispensable. And God is always looking for broken hearts, broken vessels to send his message of love and healing to our hurting world.

A message that is real, a message not enamoured with ego or pride. But with humility, authenticity, and love for God and his Word. Francis Schaffer a great man of God…after he delivered a powerful speech, he then added these words…The Lord's work must be done the Lord's way. The Lord's work must be done the Lord's way. The Lord's work must be done the Lord's way.

Our way will work if we learn to pray, and trust. God's work will get done at his pace.  Finally: What is Prayer? What ever definition you have come up with in your mind is correct. But allow me to add one: Prayer to me is Declaration of Dependence on God.

On the cross is the strongest man who ever lived who died for us, Jesus Christ. We can't make it through eternity without him. Having Jesus as our own Saviour. His work…his way within us. A willing vessel can be a potent tool in God's hands. We will be amazed what God can do with lives that are devoted to him in prayer and service. The Lord's work must be done the Lord's way. The Lord's work must be done the Lord's way.

Prayer: declaration of dependence

Dear God,

Dear God, remind me that you know exactly what's in my heart, so I might as well be up front about it. And remind me that you're not a disapproving Father, but one who loves me and rejoices in me, no matter how inadequate I might feel.

Help me to learn how to pray. Give me the faith to believe that you hear and will respond, give me the courage to seek that response, and give me the endurance I need to keep going when it feels hopeless and dry. Make us patient as you prepare us for our moment, our day, our ministry in Your time.

I ask this through Jesus who was such a model for

prayer and who taught his disciples how to pray.

Amen.