The wise old Mother Superior from county Tipperary was dying. The nuns gathered around her bed trying to make her comfortable. They gave her some warm milk to drink, but she refused it. Then one nun took the glass back to the kitchen. Remembering a bottle of Irish whiskey received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened it and poured a generous amount into the warm milk.
Back at Mother Superior's bed, she held the glass to her lips. Mother drank a little, then a little more. Before they knew it, she drank the whole glass down to the last drop. "Mother," the nuns asked with earnest, "Please give us some wisdom before you die." Barely audible and with a serene look on her face she said, "Don't sell that cow."
There are times when I have asked myself or you may have asked yourself, "Is God really listening to our prayers?" "Things have turned out so wrong for me – where was God when I was pounding on the door of heaven with my prayers." You may recall the tragedy that happened few years ago when my niece Ellen was struck by a car.
The whole community held its breath. The chapel in the hospital was packed with friends, strangers, and people prayed. People at home and in churches in Regina held vigils of prayer for this little girl’s life. I remember prayers were said here in this church on the Sunday before her death.
Now years later – how useful do you think those prayers were? Do you think that they were able to change the situation? We prayed, and prayed expecting a miracle right! A week later she died. Is God really listening to our prayers?
It’s no wonder that people are skeptical about the use of prayer. If so many people were praying for this little innocent girl, why didn’t God respond and save her life? That question has been asked over and over again throughout history when things turned out differently than they had prayed for. And I wish I had an answer that would be clear cut, understandable and simple; an answer that would prove that prayer works.
It seems that Jesus’ disciples had a problem with prayer. They had seen Jesus pray so often and noticed the confidence and fervor with which he prayed. Perhaps they wanted to know what they had to do to ensure that their prayers were answered.
May be there was a special way of speaking; a special way of pleading your case. Sometimes they saw Jesus kneeling, other times looking up to heaven – was there a special posture that helped in saying the right prayer and getting the right answer. And so they come to Jesus with the request, "Lord, teach us how to pray".
It’s interesting to note that Jesus doesn’t teach the disciples any special skills. He doesn’t say if you fold your hands and look up toward heaven, or use a special style of language, you are more likely to have your prayers answered. If that were the case then the answer to our prayers would be a human achievement not something that comes from the gracious and loving hand of God.
Let’s be clear about what prayer is. Prayer is not having special skills and saying the right words so that we can reach God’s ear. We would never be able to say the right things to move God to answer us. Prayer is not humans taking the initiative and trying to reach up to God attempting to speak in his ear. Prayer is declaration of dependence on God. Prayer is a conversation with God. The picture that comes to mind here is one of a small child who wants to tell his dad something really important. What does dad do? He bends down, lovingly puts his arm around the child and lets the child whisper in his ear.
In this sense then prayer is not so much us reaching up to God with special words or techniques, but it is God reaching down to us. So it is with prayer - no special prayer techniques is required to achieve prayer success. Praying is being in the presence of God, who bends down and like a father makes his ear available.
In the same way, God hears our prayers. Prayer is a gift, I think. Prayer is possible only because of who God is. And for us, to fully understand how prayer works, we must understand the character of God as revealed in Scriptures, and his intense love for us. And the more helpless we feel, the more we learn this to be true. Prayer is for the down and out, who finally no longer rely on him / herself, but want to be helped by God. Prayer is truly declaration of dependence on the marvelous grace of God.
Prayer is simple, yet it is the most difficult of all Christian discipline. But why is it that we find it so hard to pray? Why do we neglect this rich source of strength and power for our daily lives? I probably don’t need to tell you the reasons why because we are all guilty of failing to pray. I guess at the bottom of it all is that it takes effort to pray.
It takes effort to make time available every day to pray.
It takes effort to be quiet and still for just a short while.
It takes an effort to stop during a busy day and to spend time talking with God.
It takes an effort at the end of a long day to stay awake long enough to pray.
We readily and easily pray when there is a pressing need, when sickness or despair strike, but for the rest of the time prayer is often seen as a burden, as an effort, though it takes far less effort than taking the garbage bin out to the curb.
I wonder at times how many of us here are comfortable saying or praying grace in public, in restaurants, or when we have none-church friends in our homes for dinner? We feel a bit embarrass to give thanks for the food in front of us. We don’t want to be too “religious” in front of our friends.
Some of us may even doubt the value of prayer; if we truly believed in the power of prayer we wouldn’t have any problems having conversation with our God. One can guess a person or congregation is committed to God by their prayer life. Prayer requires practice and perseverance if it is to become a gift from God that is well used.
Prayer is a gift from God and it is not a demanding gift. By this I mean not many words are needed to respond to God's grace, only a willing heart. The prayer Jesus teaches his disciples, and us is very brief. Prayer does not demand a lot of wearisome words.
In fact, a lot of words can be a put-off. Sometimes it is better to relax in God’s presence with very few words. Jesus says, "When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask" (Matthew 6:7,8).
Jesus models a prayer that is brief and yet contains everything that is important. God doesn’t refuse any prayer, but when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, brief as it is, every need that is important is covered.
Sign seen in a textile mill, "When your thread becomes tangled, call the supervisor." A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought, "I’ll just straighten this out myself." She tried, but the situation only worsened. Finally, she called the supervisor.
"I did the best I could," she said. "No you didn’t", was the reply. "To do the best, you should have called me. "That’s just what God wants us to do. Call on him when the threads of life become tangled. Prayer is the way we bring our needs to God and let him deal with our situation with a divine answer.
He will answer our prayer with divine love and power. Even if the answer is not what we expected, be assured it is the best. Our heavenly Father is waiting to hear from us. Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you (Luke 11:9).
Inclusion: I will leave you with this thought on prayer called Five fingers prayer:
1. Your thumb is nearest to you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to us. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C. S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."
2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.
3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the first minister, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.
4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact, that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.
5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all. Which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you. " Our pinkie should remind us to pray for ourselves. By the time we have prayed for the other four groups, our own needs will be put into proper perspective and we will be able to pray for ourselves more effectively.
Prayer simple as it is, is a conversation with God in which
we declare our dependence on God.
May the peace of God which passes all understanding
keep your hearts and minds through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Love the LORD thy God. Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
July 25, 2004