"Communicating with God"
Sermon Presented April 15, 2007
Luke 18:1-8
Newsweek magazine has a weekly feature titled: My Turn, which is an opportunity for readers to submit their stories for publication. On March 19, 2007, Liz Grossman shared the story of her brother Tim who lives in Milwaukee. The Grossman family is Jewish, and at an early age Tim was diagnosed as autistic, but his symptoms seem closer to Asperger's disorder. He is a college graduate and works filing medical records.
A co-worker at Tim's office invited him to a Bible study at a Pentecostal church and he became a regular at worship, sitting in the same seat in the same row as he sits at temple when he visits his family on the High Holidays. His dad jokes that he's trying to cover all of the bases. One Sunday Liz asked if she could accompany him to church and he agreed.
Liz was amazed at what she saw. Her brother, who was always aloof and untouchable, introduced her to numerous friends, smiled easily, clapped, sang and swayed to the music, held hands during prayer, and went to the front of the church for prayer, lying almost prostrate as two pastors knelt alongside him and rubbed his back. God touched Tim during prayer and changed his life.
Prayer is communication with God, and can occur in many different ways at any time. A recent study on prayer conducted by Baylor University and the Gallup Organization showed that 75% of Americans pray at least once a week and more than 25% pray several times a day. Of those who pray regularly, 77% pray for relatives and about 53% pray about world affairs (Journal Sentinel, January 21, 2007 p. 5L). Prayer is important to people.
One indication of the importance of prayer to this congregation is that you requested this sermon. People want to know how to pray more effectively. Because this is such a broad topic, I can't offer much depth in 15 - 20 minutes. However, I pray that God will show you something this morning that will help you in your prayer life.
I chose a text from Luke because Luke is the primary Gospel in this year's lectionary. This text will be a launching pad for the topic of prayer. Luke 18:1-8. (Read text.)
This parable is designed to speak to Luke's audience and give them hope in a time of injustice. They are being persecuted and are losing faith that the Kingdom of God will ever arrive. The gospel writer presents this parable to encourage Christians living about 40 years after Jesus' death to keep the faith through persistence in prayer!
The widow who approaches the judge is a first century feminist who demands her rights. She's willing to air the family laundry in public to receive justice. She harasses the judge so much that he finally gives in.
At the conclusion of the parable, Jesus asks a haunting question. "And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" It makes us think that Jesus didn't know many persistent widows. He didn't know too many people with the faith to stay at something forever, if necessary. Then, as now, most of us pray like we brush our teeth - once in the morning and once at night as part of our spiritual hygiene program. Jesus reminds us that prayer isn't a last resort but the first and primary task for his followers. He reminds us that God stands with the oppressed to offer justice.
In this parable, both the woman and the judge are affected by her persistence. Her faith is bolstered and he yields. When we pray fervently, God changes us and give us direction. Sometimes the circumstances remain the same - the spouse continues to abuse, the child continues to rebel, the financial circumstances continue to be dire, and the disease gallops throughout the body. Through God's presence, we may receive the courage to act in ways we never imagined. Faith keeps us in communion with God during these tragic times and eases the path toward acceptance or resolution. Jesus told his listeners to keep the faith in times of trouble and to keep crying out to God.
There are times when all of us lose faith, and Jesus doesn't want this to happen when we are depressed or afraid. He wants his followers to continue to lift their hearts to God. Prayer isn't a last resort when all of our plans and programs and power plays have failed. It is our first and primary task.
As we pray "always", our prayers often change from requests for healing to prayers for strength and comfort. I think we all agree that God doesn't will cancer, divorce, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, wars, and poverty. In the face of disasters, our prayers may move from blaming God, to seeking deliverance from the circumstances, to acceptance of the circumstances, to seeking help in dealing with the problems we face.
However, we do and should pray for healing - physical, emotional and spiritual healing. It's the first thing to do. I have seen many answers to prayer, but none as powerful as one I experienced in 1995, my first year as pastor in Kansas. Sylvis was in his late 80's and was dying. The doctor told his wife to call in the family because there was nothing more they could do. This angered his wife and she demanded that he be moved to a hospital in Lincoln, NE. I thought this was a ridiculous demand, but no one challenged Roberta - a tiger!
Two days after Sylvis arrived in Lincoln I invited the family to go to the cafeteria while I stayed with him. He was unresponsive and receiving oxygen, antibiotics and IV fluids. They left and as I sat beside his bed, I heard in my mind's eye: "The prayer of a righteous person avails much." Immediately, I "heard" "But you're not righteous. You're still harboring unforgiveness toward Don" (my ex-husband.) It was so clear that it might as well have been out loud! I prayed silently asking for forgiveness for my anger and unwillingness to forgive, and then I stepped to the side of the bed, laid a hand on Sylvis' forehead and prayed for his healing.
Now mind you, he was almost 90! He had lived a long life with a wife who was difficult to say the least. I believed death would be a wonderful release for him! Normally I wouldn't have prayed for his healing - just for a peaceful transition to life after death. But I prayed for his healing and God healed him. When he left the hospital, the doctor said he would need oxygen for the rest of his life, but in six months, the oxygen tanks were removed from his home. He was in church every Sunday, and celebrated his 96th birthday and his 67th wedding anniversary in his own home. Why did Sylvis live and young people I have prayed for die? I don't know! I do know that we can't control God through prayer. God is God! But when we communicate with God, it always helps!
Sometimes there are blocks to our prayers. When my TV malfunctions - especially if it's only a few years old, I don't throw it out, but try to figure out what's wrong. I check the electrical cord to make sure everything is as it should be. If necessary, I even read the instruction book! If Larry and Roy can't help fix the problem, then I call a repair service. It's the same with prayer. We often have blocks to praying and wonder if our prayers are hitting a brick wall. That's when we need to keep the faith. That's when we need to find the blocks and remove them. Sometimes we need outside help. I have a spiritual director that I meet with once a month, and have had one since my seminary days. Find someone to help! I am always available to lend a listening ear. We don't quit praying when obstacles arise.
I don't know who Dom Chapman is or was, but this quote is in many books on prayer and one I hold on to. Chapman said: "Pray as you can, not as you can't." Now that may sound stupid at first hearing, but think about it. If you can't form the words yourself, then pray the Lord's Prayer, a psalm, a childhood prayer or liturgy you learned as a child! If all you can do is to be silent or weep before God, do that! When your heart seeks God, you will find that you aren't alone.
Emilie Griffin wrote in her book Clinging: The Experience of Prayer: "Prayer is, after all, a very dangerous business. For all the benefits it offers of growing closer to God, it carries with it one great element of risk: the possibility of change. In prayer we open ourselves to the chance that God will do something with us that we had not intended. We yield to possibilities of intense perception, of seeing through human masks and the density of things to the very center of reality." Don't pray if you don't want God to act.
I'm going to offer a few additional tips on prayer, and there's probably nothing new here. However, sometimes an idea sticks when we are ready to receive it and this may be one of those times. If any of these ideas seem useful, try them!
1. Set aside a regular time and place for prayer. Meals, exercise and prayer need to be scheduled for them to happen.
2. It helps to pray as we speak. When we use "thee", "thou", and "thine", we don't employ the conversational language necessary for good communication. Some people have always prayed with King James language and it's too late to change, and that's okay.
3. Don't try to fake it with God! God knows when you're angry, depressed, hurt, guilty, or unforgiving, so let it all hang out. God won't be shocked at your words, but loves you and wants you to be whole.
4. Pay attention to what's around you. God beams messages to us through nature, biblical and world history, our lives and the lives of people we come in contact with. When we are alert, we find answers to our prayers.
Last Friday, several of us attended a Shabbat service at Congregation Sinai, a Jewish congregation in Fox Point. Following the service, we adjourned to the social hall where we were served traditional Jewish holiday foods and viewed holiday customs. Through the progression of worship to the symbols of the holy days, we observed that the remembering of the biblical stories of creation and the Exodus from Egypt serve as the basis for their faith. The same is true for Christians as we participate in communion and the sharing of an expanded biblical story. We have faith today because of what happened in our biblical and personal histories, as well as our present experiences. God can answer prayers through our faith histories.
Our faith is the impetus for prayer, and prayer can help us to maintain or restore our faith. Faith and prayer work together to bring us closer to God. So let's vow to make communicating with God a top priority. It will change you! Are you ready?
