Scripture Readings: Colossians 2:6-15

Luke 11:1-13

Sermon Title: "Growing Through Prayer as the Children of God"

Sermon Text: Luke 11:1: Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples."

"Lord, teach us to pray." If you had been one of the disciples of Jesus would you made this request of Jesus? If you had the opportunity still today to make such a request of Jesus would you do so? Many of us grew up singing, "Prayer is the Soul’s Sincere Desire." Yet for many people prayer is not something that comes easily. For many it is something over which they often feel guilty because prayer is not such an important and significant part of their lives. We recognize, of course, that prayer is not unique to our lives as the followers of Jesus. Almost every religion, and not just Christianity, has some form of prayer and mediation. What then does prayer mean in your life? Is it something for which you would want to say to Jesus, "Lord, teach me to pray?"

As we listen to this request of his disciples, "Lord, teach us to pray," we remember that they were not asking for something that was entirely new and different in their lives. They would have grown up attending the synagogue and participating in the prayers. They would have sung the psalms, many of which, like our first two hymns this morning, and many of our other hymns, are clearly prayers to God. Some of them may well have been disciples of John and knew what it was that he had taught them about prayer. Their request was not then for some new experience but for Jesus to help them to grow as his followers as he taught them to pray.

As we heard, of course, Jesus did not dismiss their request. It would have been easy for him to say, "My relationship with God the Father is so special and so unique that what I experience in prayer is not something that can be shared with anyone of you." Instead, of course, in the opening words of the model prayer that Jesus gives us he assured them, and assures us still today, that God wants as much of an intimate relationship with all people as he did with Jesus. God does not want just Jesus to be the only one to cry out, "Abba, Father." God desires rather that all people may have the confidence and the assurance to cry out, "Abba, Father." Prayer enables us to grow as the children of God as we live more and more through prayer in the assurance of our own relationship with the God, who is "our Father who art in heaven."

Today, of course, as we seek through prayer to grow as the children of God we have not only the words that Jesus gave us in what we now call "The Lord’s Prayer." We have also the words that come out of the experience of prayer of his disciples down through the years. The words of Thomas Merton printed on the front of the bulletin this morning, as well as the answers of the catechism questions from The Study Catechism of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which we will use as our affirmation of faith, have been included in this service to give all of us the opportunity not just this morning but in the days ahead to be able to grow as the children of God as we think about what prayer means in our lives as we reflect not only on the familiar words of the Lord’s Prayer, but also on these words of fellow Christians as they have written about their experience of prayer.

As we think about what it means to grow as the children of God through prayer we see that the basic affirmation of the catechism answers is a reminder of the fact that, "prayer means calling upon God whose Spirit is always present with us." Our experience of calling upon God in prayer in worship here in this place together with God’s people, should be the springboard that enables us to know that we can call upon God at all times and in all places because God is always with us whether we are alone or with other people. Indeed, we are reminded that "prayer brings us into communion with God." It is true that God is always with us, but we are not always conscious or aware of God’s presence. As we stop and pause and pray we affirm that yes, God is with us, and that God is nearer to us than our very breath. God is closer to us than any parent or our closest family member, or our closest friend because they cannot be with us at all times and in all places, but God is always there with us. As we reach out to God in prayer we remind ourselves of that reality. As we cry out, "Abba! Father! we are reminding ourselves that we have that assurance that God will never leave us nor forsake us as the children of God. We grow as the children of God as prayer enables us to live more and more each day in an awareness of the presence of God with us at all times and in all places.

Our study catechism reminds us that we can have this assurance of God’s presence with us as we come to recognize that God’s presence is not dependent upon our own goodness and upon our own faithfulness to God. The catechism says, "When we pray, we respond with love to that greater love which meets us from above… We may turn to God with confidence each day, not because we are worthy, but simply because of God’s grace." If there is one new truth that Jesus in teaching his disciples to pray gave to them, and to all of us, it is that prayer is not the way of seeking to make ourselves acceptable and pleasing to God, as many religions would suggest. He assures us rather that we can pray with confidence because God has already claimed us in love and grace as God’s children. It is this assurance that enables us confidently and without fear to turn to God and to say, "Abba, Father." Paul as he writes to the Christians in Colossae reminds them of what it means to have experienced God’s grace in Jesus Christ and warns them not to allow anyone to move them away from what the assurance of their relationship with God through him means to them. As we pray so we grow as the children of God as we come to appreciate more and more what the amazing grace of God means to us.

No doubt one of the things that had prompted the disciples to ask Jesus to teach them to pray was the fact that prior to every major event and turning point in his life they had seen him in prayer. Prayer for him had become that source of guidance for what it meant to do God’s will, and to be part of the kingdom of God, here on earth. We follow the example and the instructions of Jesus as we pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." As we pray in this way the words of Thomas Merton quoted on the front of our bulletin this morning remind us that prayer indeed can be not just a comforting and reassuring experience in our lives, but also a disturbing and challenging experience. I wonder how many of us have thought of prayer as he suggests when he says, "Prayer and Meditation have an important part to play in opening up new ways and new horizons." (Thomas Merton, Contemplation in a World of Action) Through prayer we not only enter into communion with God, but as the catechism reminds us, "prayer means offering our lives completely to God, submitting ourselves to God’s will." It is very doubtful that when those disciples first asked Jesus to teach them to pray they appreciated all that praying following his example would come to mean in their lives. The children in our elementary age Sunday School class this summer have been learning about what happened in the lives of many of these disciples as they prayed that God’s will might be done not just in the life of Jesus but in each of their own lives. Their crests or seals shown in the banners in our fellowship hall speak of what happened to many of these disciples as they allowed their prayer to be answered in their own lives. Their experience reminds us that no one can grow without change. We know this very clearly with children, but this is true whatever our age might be. The changes that came to the lives of those who first asked Jesus to teach them to pray as a result of praying as he taught them remind us that if we are serious about wanting to grow as the children of God through prayer then we must be ready for the changes that such growth will bring to our lives. Prayer is not for those who want to remain the same, as if they were already the perfect children of God. Prayer is for those who want to grow as the children of God, seeking to grow more and more into the likeness of the perfect child of God, even Jesus Christ. Prayer is for those who want to be open like those first disciples to the new ways, the new horizons and the new possibilities God wants to give to their lives. These new horizons come as we seek first the kingdom of God, and seek to do God’s will rather than our own. New visions come as we learn not just to appreciate God’s gift to us of our daily bread, but see our God given responsibility to share that bread and all God’s blessings with others. The new possibilities come as we learn to forgive as we already have been forgiven by God, and open ourselves up to what the restoration of broken relationships might mean to us in our personal lives and our family life, as well as in our life in the church, in the community, and in this broken, divided and violent world. As those who participate in the Twelve Step Program of Alcoholics Anonymous and similar support programs know only too well, new horizons develop as we claim God’s guidance and power so that we do not need to fall victim to old temptations and addictions and to old unproductive ways of living and doing things. Through prayer God offers to us the opportunity to grow as the children of God enabling us to become more of the people God would have us to be. When we think about it, though, is this not part of the reason, maybe even the main reason, that many people find prayer to be difficult, that they really are not wanting to change, and are not ready to grow in the way in which God would want them to grow as the children of God?

"Lord, teach us to pray." We have reflected on just some of what the response of Jesus to that request of the disciples came to mean in their lives and in the lives of his followers down through the years. Out of our reflections the most significant question is not "Would you have made that request of Jesus?" but rather, "Are you still wanting to make that request of Jesus?" In other words, "Are you still seeking to grow as a child of God through the way in which Jesus taught us to pray? What does prayer mean in your life?

Silent Meditation

Leader: What is prayer?

Leader: What encourages us to pray each day?

Words of Thomas Merton on the front of the bulletin for Sunday, July 29, 2007