I am struck by fact disciples asked Jesus "teach us how to pray" - surely they knew how to pray? - they had been there and done that - with John - with the village rabbis - in the synagogues and temples - yet they after watching Jesus for a while - after seeing what he could do - after being impressed by his wisdom - his power - his love - they ask him to teach them how to pray...
And this makes me think about us - have we asked Jesus to teach us to pray? Or have we assumed that we know how?
The Christian life - the Godly life - is fueled by prayer - it is made strong by our contact with God each day - just as the relationship between husband and wife is sustained by communication - intimate - regular - joyful - sincere - needy - honest talk...
Yet very few people ever show the hunger of the disciples and ask "teach us how to pray"
When it comes to prayer - I think many people assume they already know all they really need to know - for they know the Lord's Prayer - the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples when they asked him "Lord, teach us how to pray."
But the Lord's Prayer which they have heard, and which we know, is not THE answer of Jesus to his disciple's question - it is only A answer - a model as it were - of what our prayer might be like - of what it might include - and of what attitude our prayer might be uttered with.
The Lord's Prayer, my brothers and sisters, is only a model, an example of what prayer is like - yet - I am afraid that people - have turned it into AN ICON - AN IDOL OF PRAYER - and so have missed the point of what Jesus said to his disciples on that hot and hazy day in Palestine so long ago.
Many Church members lament the loss of the days when recitation of the Lord's Prayer was compulsory at school. They regard it as something for kids to hold onto." "It'll come back to them when they're in trouble." "At least it's a foundation." And so on.
The Lord's Prayer itself is precious - and for many of us learning it, and saying it together, is a precious childhood memory. Taking it out of the daily school routine here is one more example of the erosion of so much that was once held dear, and essential to the shared "Christian" culture. The absence of prayer in the schools compounds the frustration, grief, guilt churchgoers of a certain age feel over the fact that their children and grandchildren don't go to church.
But the Lord's Prayer can also be a perversion of prayer, something you do for a bit of religion; a retreat into magic; a set of words that might help in a fix; and as such it misses the point of what prayer is all about.
When a person learns the Lord's Prayer by heart, they did not know all they need to know about prayer. And teaching the Lord's prayer to others as a form of evangelism, as something that non-church-going kids need to hear, is a deep denial of the reason why Jesus taught his disciples this prayer in the first place.
The Lord's Prayer is a model of what prayer is for us as disciples - it is not meant for strangers - for people who do not know the Lord or believe in the God of Abraham and of Sarah and of Mary and of Joseph.
The Lord's Prayer is a form of prayer for disciples - for followers of Jesus - for the family of God.
A form of prayer mind you, not THE PRAYER or the ONLY PRAYER - nor even all prayers rolled into one. IT IS A MODEL - an example of how we - as followers of Jesus - might pray to God above.
IT IS, ABOVE ALL OTHER THINGS, A MODEL OF INTIMACY
God is not "Father" - a formal and stiff parent whom me must address with great respect, fear, and awe - - God is "Daddy" - "Papa" - the one into whose lap we as toddlers crawl up into and whose beard we play with as we chatter to him - the one whose arms hold us safe as we laugh and giggle and ask him what we want and tell him about our day.
God, as Jesus explained, is like the neighbour who is close enough to pester at the worst time, or a parent who wants only what's best for the children - the One you know you can count on because you *know* "him".
That's the One to whom this sample-prayer which we call the Lord's Prayer is addressed, and that is how Jesus suggests we can address Him!
God is the one we spend time with - as a child spends time with his friends and his parents - simple time - time of thanksgiving - of praise - of need of asking for forgiveness - of expressing hope.
Lord, Teach us how to pray...
When it comes to prayer - all of us need some instruction - some understanding - but more than that - we need time - time and desire.
Time for shooting or spot prayers - the kind of prayer that is seen when your child runs into the room and says - wow it sure is hot outside - or - gee whiz - it sure would be nice to go to the beach later - And time for special times of prayer - special occasions - as when your child has hurt herself and comes to you for a bandage and for a hug - or when your son comes and asks you to tell him about why he has the name he has - or what your family do about the children down the street whose mother died and whose father is out of work...And time for regular prayer - as when you plan the day at the breakfast table - or review it at the supper table
Prayer is a matter of time and of desire - the desire to communicate - the desire to know - to listen - to think - to enjoy - to understand - to help - to be with...
I know people, within and without the church, who are offended by talk of intimacy/familiarity with God. They are the people who want only the prayer-book words at weddings, only the "old favourite" hymns on Sundays, and only the King James Version at their funerals.
In a sense they keep God away from their inner selves with language. They like the sound of the words, and the atmosphere they create, but they don't really want to know what they mean, or the God they are addressed to.
Don't keep God away - keep coming to God - coming and asking - coming and sharing - coming and learning - for God answers prayer - he hears us - he communicates with us.
God answers prayer - not always as we want - with magical solutions to our problems - but God answers. There are so many times when God answered my prayers throughout the years.
Sometimes he answers simply by listening when we share - as a father listens to his daughter tell him about her day - as a mother listens when her son speaks of his sense of frustration and of anger about how things are going at school, or at work, or with that special friend that he thought he could trust.
God is my friend - my Daddy - my Papa - the one who understands me - the one who holds me - the one who reassures me.
The Lord's Prayer, my friends, is not magic - it's not the sum total of what we should say to God - it is a model for those people who are interested in knowing their heavenly father - a form of what prayer can be like for those who really want to be like Jesus. It is an example of the freedom that we can have with God - the freedom that God himself bestows.
Hear the Prayer Jesus said we can pray... hear it as an example - audacious and bold and so intimate it is almost beyond words...
Daddy, you are so wonderful - I wish that everybody could have a Daddy like you, and that everyone would do the things you tell them to do - because what you say is so good.
Daddy - will you make supper tonight? Will you put good food on the table like you did last night and the night before?
Oh - and Daddy - I hope you won't be mad...I did something I shouldn't have today - will you forgive me??
Yes Daddy - I know - You want me to forgive my little brother for the nasty thing he did to me - and I will - I love him - even if he is weird.
Thank you Daddy for not being angry.
You'll protect me always, won't you Daddy? You'll keep me safe from those things that go bump in the night? From those things that frighten me?
I knew you would Daddy - for you are the best Daddy anyone could ever have. I love you Daddy. You are the greatest.
I got to go now Daddy. See you later.
Such my friends is the Lord's prayer for those who belong to the Family of God - and it is a surprise for many.
As David Buttrick expresses it, The Lord's Prayer with it's "Abba!, turns all our formal, strained praying into glad amusement, for right in the middle of our stained-glass phrases is that impudent word "Daddy!"
Lord - teach us how to pray...
To pray the Lord's Prayer, and to pattern prayer after this example is to be impudent and sassy, to be bold and to be vulnerable.
It is to be a child. A child whose father is the God who made heaven and earth and everything in it.
To pray as Jesus taught us to pray is, above all to be connected. - connected when we are afraid and when we are full of courage, - connected when we are weeping - and when we are laughing, - connected when we are in need - and when we have much to give...
Lord, teach us how to pray....
When it comes to prayer - nothing else will quite do except that our hearts and our minds be turned to God as a child turns to its parents in trust and in confidence; in the trust and the confidence that they will be heard and helped and encouraged and loved..May His name be praised day by day. Amen
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