The Gospel – Luke 11:1-13
Good Morning:
It is great to back at Epiphany!
As I was preparing this sermon, my wife started a Movie titled “Bruce
Almighty”. Have any of you seen this movie. Well for those of you who
haven’t, here is a short synopsis of the movie.
God is played by Morgan Freeman. In the movie, Bruce, played by Jim
Carrey, meets God and God gives Bruce a chance to be God over a small
portion of the world. It does not work out well, and Bruce is highly
discouraged and, frankly, he is desperate. He asks for a meeting with
God. During the meeting, Bruce asks God, “What do you want me to do?”
And God answers, “I want you to pray, son.”
This is the key theme of our Gospel lesson today. Jesus wants his
disciples to know how to pray. Just as he wants us to know how to pray.
How many of you remember your first prayer?
I remember mine.
“Now I lay me down to sleep
I Bless the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.
Bless Momma, Bless Daddy,
Bless Judy, Bless Floppy,
….. And Bless Rooster Joe.
Every night, as we went to bed, we said this prayer with our parents. This
always seemed the right way to end the day. It provided closure. And it
provided a kind of peace. Like God in the movie, Like Jesus in the Gospel,
my parents wanted their Children to know how to pray.
In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus was praying, as he often did. This time,
after he had finished, the disciples asked him to teach them how to pray.
And he taught them the following payer.
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial.”
We now commonly call this, “The Lord’s Prayer”. And I expect that nearly
all of us here today can recite it.
This was the second prayer that I learned. In many ways it is similar to my
first prayer. It connects us with God. It connects us with each other. It is a
prayer that is often memorized and can be said every day.
There are several types of prayers. The ones I most commonly use are:
Prayers of thanksgiving. These give me an opportunity to thank God
for the many gifts I have received. Grace before meals is another
form of Thanksgiving.
Prayers of petition. I often use this form of prayer when I need help
or do not know what to do.
I still remember my first prayer of petition to God. I was about 8 years old
and I was just given a new chore. And it was my favorite chore. I burned
our garbage every week. Which of course meant, that I was given
matches. Now I was always somewhat inquisitive. I learned the best ways
to start fires to burn our garbage. But I also experimented with twigs,
sticks, and then finally dry grass. I found that dry grass burned the easiest.
But that was hard to come by where I lived in Western Washington.
However, our barn was full of dry grass. So, one day I experimented by
burning hay in the barn. The only problem was once the hay started
burning it did not stop. So, as my father was driving home he saw that the
barn was on fire. To make matters worse, this barn was surrounded by a
forest of trees. I don’t need to tell you that I was scared. So, I dropped
down to my knees and prayed to God to put that fire out.
Within minutes, it started to rain, and it rained hard. And the fire was put
out, even though the barn was gone. I had just experienced my first
miracle. Of course, as an eight-year-old, it didn’t really occur to me that it
rains about 300 days a year in Western Washington State, so statistics
were really on my side. No matter, I was now a believer in prayer.
Prayers of intercession are a third form. With prayers of intercession,
we are not praying for our needs. Instead, we are praying for the
needs of others.
And finally, prayers of Praise. These prayers express our love for the
great glory that is God. Our hymns are full of prayers of praise.
Whenever we pray, God Listens. As Jesus says later on in our Gospel
lesson today,
Ask and it will be Given to you.
Knock and the door will be opened
Everyone who asks, receives
Everyone who searches, finds
And for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Sometimes God answers directly. Sometimes his answer is not
necessarily what we think we need. Often, we just do not understand his
response, or his seeming lack of response.
I have one other quote from the movie Bruce Almighty:
Bruce is meeting with God, and he points out that he doesn’t understand
why everyone is angry and why his portion of the world is in complete
chaos. He tells God that he has given everyone exactly what they prayed
for.
And God, played by Morgan Freeman, replies, “And since when does
anyone have a clue what they want.”
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he prayed. He was a great example for his
disciples. He wanted them to see the power of prayer. Sometimes miracles occurred. Sometimes he just provided comfort. Sometimes sins
were forgiven.
Prayer is about relationship. It reminds us of the relationship we have with
God and how important he is in our lives. It can give us comfort; it can give
us peace. But for me, whenever I pray, I always become aware of God’s
presence in my life. I feel his presence and am comforted to know that he
is with me.
This is especially true as I come to the altar. I always kneel, mostly
because that was what I was taught. And I always pray. It is usually the
same prayer, and it is very short. It is personal. And this prayer helps
remind me of God’s presence as I receive the eucharist.
We don’t always get what we pray for. But it is important to remember, that
God hears us. He is with us. And his love for us is unconditional.
This morning, as we recite the Lord’s prayer, remember our Gospel. And
remember this powerful gift that Jesus has given us.
And, of course, remember those powerful words from Morgan Freeman in
his role as God in Bruce Almighty, “I want you to pray”.