Luke 11:1-13

Pentecost 7C | July 24, 2022 | Luke 11:1-13 | Judson F Merrell |

He 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.“

 ² He said to them, „When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

 ³ Give us each day our daily bread.

 ⁴ And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.“

 ⁵ And he said to them, „Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‚Friend, lend me three loaves of bread;

 ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.‘

 ⁷ And he answers from within, ‚Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.‘

 ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

 ⁹ „So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.

 ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

 ¹¹ Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish?

 ¹² Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion?

 ¹³ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!“ (Luk 11:1-13 NRSV)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A few weeks ago, we heard as our second reading the beginning of the letter to the church at Colossae.   The author of that letter wrote: “In our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”(Colossians 1:3)  Again it is written: “We have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” (Colossians 1:9)  We all know that prayer is a central part of our life together with God.  It is a central pillar of our faith, and something we do on a daily basis as we walk with God.  In our Gospel today, we hear the disciples tell Jesus “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”  What follows is Luke’s version of what we now call The Lord’s Prayer.  But their request brings about some interesting things to ponder.  Is there a wrong way to pray?  Is there a correct way to pray?  And most of all…what is God’s role in prayer?

On those first questions…is there a wrong way to pray?  To quote my seminary professor who taught us Greek:  “Yes, but no.”  When we pray, we believe that God is always open to hear us.  We believe that the Spirit intercedes for us and carries our prayers to the waiting ears of God.  There truly is nothing we can’t say to God.  However, we don’t pray to God in a way that is contrary to our faith.  We don’t pray to a female deity, or take the Lord’s name in vain, or curse God.  Do some people do that?  Surely so, but it isn’t right.  Our faith tells us it isn’t right.  And therefore it isn’t something we do.  We have enough problems in our lives simply because we are sinners.  We don’t need to add to it on purpose.  Instead, we have this example from Jesus that begins with a reminder that God and his name are holy.  Holiness means set apart, above any of us, and therefore holiness demands our respect.  This is how we pray.  This is how Jesus taught the disciples, the very people that walked with him in ministry for several years.  If we begin prayer in the realm of holiness, there is no wrong way to pray to God.  A prayer began in holiness is a prayer that joins the prayers of the church and the saints in light.  It is a prayer that puts our selfishness and sinfulness aside because it is an acknowledgement that God and God alone has the answer for what we pray for.

The answer to prayer is God’s role…but it may not be an “answer” as we expect.  We can pray to God that we would win the lottery, heal some disease that doctors can’t cure, or grant that war and bad stuff doesn’t happen.  We know that these kinds of prayer don’t always come with the answers we want.  We have to discern if the prayer we are asking is a prayer grounded in holiness.  The answer we seek may eventually come, and it may not be in the way we want or expect.  That too is how we wrestle with our faith and our interactions with God.  However, a prayer wrapped in holiness is a prayer where we can and do ask that God be present in those situations and to send his Spirit to be in those situations.  This is the type of prayer that Jesus seems to say that God wants from us.  Jesus says “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.”  (Luke 11:9) Jesus says that after teaching that prayer begins with holiness.  We know God wants us to be in conversation with him through prayer.  He wants us to come to him as children come to their Father.  And when we do, we know that it is a conversation that is holy.  A prayer that is Spirit filled and carried to the Father.  God’s role in prayer is hearing us and answering us in a way that only God can do.  This is why prayer is holy and powerful.  This is why we have faith in prayer and in God.  It is why prayer is so important to the church, and to us as Christians.  Like the author of Colossians, may we not cease praying for the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding as we go forward in life.  For we know that God is listening, eager to be in relationship with us all the days of our life.  In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell, STS