Pray Like This

Introduction:

Today’s thoughts come from Practicing the Way. Practicing the Way is a movement in our world that challenges people to apprentice around Jesus, slow down, do less, prioritize Him, and embrace practices that lead us to the source of all life, which is Jesus himself.

Originally, I was going to introduce fasting as our second spiritual practice to grow in but I feel that we need to sit in the practice of prayer a little longer. I will address fasting next month.

Growing up, my parents had an interesting spiritual life. When I was born, my parents weren’t married to each other but to other people. This complicated their spiritual connections and choices.

My mom tried to teach my brother and I to pray, she had a lot of Catholic in her and a newly formed Lutheran catechism.

“Now I lay me down to sleep” and the “Lord’s Prayer” and of course “The Hail Mary” for good measure.

Our prayer times together seemed dutiful and without emotion/feeling.

But let’s face it: for many of us prayer may still feel like a duty.

Life Experience shows us that:

We’re all so busy, it’s hard to find the time to pray, and when we do…

It can be boring. And it’s hard to focus. We get distracted by all the things on our to-do list for the day.

It can feel like talking to yourself, or reading a list to an imaginary person in the sky.

So, we make excuses – I have young kids, or I have to go work, or whatever, etc. And we feel a tinge of guilt. Then we just pick up our phone.

Prayer – for a lot of us – is like eating our vegetables; we know it’s good for our health, but very few of us enjoy it.

Let me break this down for you: we live in one of the most difficult times in all of human history to pray.

The smartphone alone is a deathblow to prayer for our entire generation, not to mention: social media, the internet, digital streaming, entertainment, noise pollution, urbanization, secularization, and more.

My point is, if you struggle to pray, you are not alone.

The reality is that we are all beginners when it comes to prayer…no one should ever just arrive. We are all learning new aspects to prayer.

And yet, prayer is the portal to life with God – the life we all crave in the deepest part of our being, whether we identify it as a desire for God, or misidentify it as a desire for something else.

Prayer

Turn in your Bibles to

Luke 11 (NLT)

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying.

• Pause for a minute.

• We are dropping into the middle of a much larger story. And in the literary design of Luke’s biography of Jesus, this is a running theme…

In

Luke 5:15–16 (NLT)

But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

and

Luke 6:12 (NLT)

One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.

Or

Luke 9:28–29 (NLT)

About eight days later Jesus took Peter, John, and James up on a mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white.

Luke 11

• Here he is again, praying… Keep reading…

As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Teach us to pray…

This is a fascinating request: Jesus did all sorts of amazing things – but the disciples do not ask Jesus to teach them how to heal the sick, or to cast out demons, or perform miracles. They ask him to teach them how to pray.

Maybe it’s because living with Jesus 24/7, watching his daily prayer rhythm, they realized that Jesus’ extraordinary outer life with people was the byproduct of his even-more-extraordinary inner life with God.

They were smart enough to know that Jesus was experiencing something they were not in prayer; prayer wasn’t a duty, but a delight. He really enjoyed his Father’s company. In prayer Jesus was drinking from a deep well, and they wanted a taste of the water.

So, right now, right where you are – I invite you to take a moment, and make the disciples’ prayer your own. “Lord, teach us to pray.”

And if you’re ready to apprentice under Rabbi Jesus in his school of prayer, pay close attention to what Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, and how Jesus teaches his disciples to pray.

A short word on each. First off, what…

What Jesus teaches his disciples to pray

Verse two:

Luke 11:2–4 (NIV)

“Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.”

Protestants call this “the Lord’s Prayer”; Catholics, “the Our Father.”

And it’s not just a liturgy – or a pre-made prayer; it’s also a theology - or a theological orientation for prayer; it’s a way of coming before God.

A lot of people equate prayer with asking God for things. But while asking is a key part of prayer, there’s still much more to prayer.

Notice, Jesus does not ask our Father for anything until midway through the prayer.

The entire first half is orientation.

Let me point out three theological truths from the Lord’s Prayer that are Jesus’ framework for all prayer.

For Jesus…

1. God is our Father

Line one: “Our Father…” Or in Aramaic, Abba. What a child would call their dad.

• In Jesus’ day, that was a revolutionary way to address God.

“Abba” is only a little word, and yet contains everything. It is not the mouth but the heart’s affection which speaks like this. Even if I am oppressed with anguish and terror on every side, and seem to be forsaken and utterly cast away from your presence, yet am I your child, and you are my Father. For Christ’s sake: I am loved because of the Beloved. So this little word “Abba”, Father, deeply felt in the heart, surpasses all the eloquence of Demosthenes (duh-maas-ta-neez), Cicero (siserow), and the most eloquent speakers that ever lived. This matter is not expressed with words, but with groanings, and these groanings cannot be uttered with any words of eloquence, for no tongue can express them.

Martin Luther

Yet it was Jesus’ go-to name for God. He thought of God as his Father, and… he taught his apprentices to do the same.

I know this is really hard for some of you due to difficult relationships with your human fathers.

• But for Jesus, what comes to mind when you think about God will make or break your prayer

life.

• Jon Tyson who’s focus is on spiritual formation and church plantings says this:

“Unless you break the stronghold of false images of God in your mind, you’ll never be drawn to prayer—”

Jon Tyson

False Images of God:

For many of us, our journey into a deeper life of prayer must begin with the healing of our false images of who God is.

If you think of God as an angry tyrant in the sky, mad at the world, waiting to lay into you… or the cosmic therapist there to make you happy, but who doesn’t seem to deliver — you will not be drawn to prayer.

But… if you think of God as your father… that’s a whole other story.

My kids used to run to me after I got home from work. Now they just look at me :-) Regardless, they are happy to see me (in their own way). They are not afraid of me or run in fear from me. They want me close by.

The first thing Jesus has to teach us about prayer is that the God we come before has a welcoming heart and good intentions toward us.

Come to him as children.

• Second, for Jesus…

2. The goal of prayer is the worshipful enjoyment of our Father’s company.

The next line is:

“hallowed be your name.”

This can be a tricky word to translate into English.

hallow, to make holy or to set apart for special service. In the Bible, the term translates a form of the Hebrew word qadesh, the primary meaning of which is “separation” or “setting apart.” In its various forms this Hebrew word is also translated as “holy,” “holiness,” “consecrate,” “sanctify,” “dedicate,” or “purify.” Thus, a “hallowed thing” was something set apart for a special use or purpose: the sabbath is a day hallowed by God (Gen. 2:3; cf. Ezek. 20:20; Sir. 33:9; 2 Macc. 15:2); the altar in the tent of meeting is hallowed for sacred purposes only; and Israel is told to hallow the jubilee year (Lev. 25:10).

Jesus applies the term to God’s name in the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9; Luke 11:2), indicating the sanctity of that name, which is therefore deserving of special reverence.

And to be holy means to be unique and special and beautiful.

To say God is holy is to say there is no other being in all the cosmos more radiant than God.

Timothy Keller, in his book Prayer, writes:

“To hallow God’s name is to have a heart of grateful joy toward God — and even more, a wondrous sense of his beauty…”

Timothy Keller

When you start to pray — to commune with God — and you begin to enter into the inner life of the Father and the Son and the Spirit and share in their love and joy and peace… you realize, they radiate beauty…

And as you are caught up in the beauty of God, you can’t help but desire for others around you to see God for who he really is.

The Anglican theologian N.T. Wright translates “hallowed be your name,” this way:

“May you be worshiped by your whole creation; may the whole cosmos resound with your praise; may the whole world be freed from injustice, disfigurement, sin, and death.”

N.T. Wright

• Here is Jesus, in loving worship of his Father.

Finally, for Jesus…

3. Our prayers really do make a difference

• Jesus’ next line is:

“Your kingdom come. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

That through prayer we drag the future age of the Kingdom of God into the here and now.

Your kingdom come is a prayer that God’s kingship would continually advance in people’s hearts and lives until the day Jesus returns and brings the kingdom in perfect fullness

All of this may sound overwhelming. A question you may be asking is, “where do we start?” Well, we are going to talk about…

How Jesus teaches us to pray.

He does not start by teaching us to say whatever is on our mind…

Nothing wrong with that, at all.

But he starts by saying, “When you pray, say.”

The NT scholar Scot McKnight argues that v2 can be translated

“Whenever you pray, recite this…”

Scot McKnight

That Jesus is tapping into the first century Jewish custom of praying memorized or pre-made prayers.

This is what we mean by talking to God; praying pre-made prayers, that someone else, in this case Jesus, created for followers of Jesus across the world and down through history to pray.

Let me give you a few examples of pre-made prayers:

1. The Lord’s Prayer

It is the most famous in the NT.

It was prayed three times a day by the first Christians.

2. The Psalms

Which are called the “prayerbook” of the Bible.

Because most of them were designed not to be read, but to be prayed.

3. Scripture itself

Many people find great life in praying Scripture back to God, calling on God to fulfill his promises.

4. Singing

There’s a power in prayer set to music. St. Augustine famously said,

“To sing is to pray twice.”

St. Augustine

We don’t think of modern worship music as liturgical, but it is; it’s a pre-written prayer we’re all praying together, to God.

But there is also formal…

5. Liturgy

In more historic streams of the church, or in The Book of Common Prayer or The Liturgy of the Hours.

And in today’s world,

6. Apps on your phone

…that guide you through prayer as you drive to work or walk your dog in the park, or go on a hike.

These are all examples of talking to God with pre-made prayers.

This type of prayer is very helpful in a number of situations:

1. When you’re first learning to pray.

Think of how children learn to write, by tracing letters and then words on a page, before they write on their own; this is how God wired the brain to grow — by copying. And this is a great way to learn how to pray.

2. When you’re traveling and away from your daily prayer rhythm — you’re on an airplane or in a hotel room. And you don’t have the habit cues of your home life.

3. When you’re exhausted and can’t focus your mind very well, because you have a newborn, or you didn’t sleep well the night before, or you’re in a demanding season of school, or work, or caregiving.

4. When you’re emotionally or physically unwell.

5. When you long for greater articulation in your prayer and you’re searching for the right words to express your heart to God.

6. When you’re in what St. John of the Cross called “the dark night of the soul” – a season where you don’t feel God’s presence like you used to.

> In these situations and more, this can be a really helpful way to pray.

> Now, there are limitations to this type of prayer. It can feel impersonal or inauthentic or intellectual.

It’s very important with pre-made prayer that we slow down and bring our heart’s intention to it, less it become rote.

But if we open our heart to God, we tap into a power that flows in and through our spirit.

We are praying with the communion of the saints, adding our voice to millions around the world and down through history.

We are praying with articulation and theological weight and beauty.

We are guarding our mind from distraction and guiding it into God’s presence and purposes.

These pre-made prayers are a kind of scaffolding for building a temple of the Holy Spirit in our body.

So, coming week, our Practice is to begin to develop a daily prayer rhythm. And to explore when and where and how to pray.

It is worth noting and bringing great emphasis to: you don’t have to do prescriptive or liturgical prayers. These can be helpful but not necessary when speaking to God. There is no barrier between you and the God of all creation. It is His desire that you would that use your words, take the step to talk to Him, and share the things that are on your heart.

• We have a prayer handout that we would like to give you today, but really there’s no “right way” to pray.

Ronald Rolheiser writes:

“There’s no bad way to pray and no single starting point for prayer. The spiritual masters offer one nonnegotiable rule: You have to show up for prayer and show up regularly. Everything else is negotiable and respects your unique circumstances.”

Ronald Rolhesier

So as you practice, remember, the ultimate aim of prayer is not to master a discipline. It’s not to master anything; it’s to be mastered, and as a result, be set free.

The point of prayer is to open our heart to God, to offer deeper and deeper parts of our life and world to him to heal and save, and to move farther down the path toward what first century Christians called “union” with God.

Union is the answer to Jesus’ own prayer for his apprentices in John 17:21

John 17:21 (NLT)

I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

So, this coming week, as you begin, I can’t think of a better place to start than the disciples’ simple request: “Lord, teach us to pray.”

To end our morning, we are going to practice what it means to pray.

Quiet Your Heart (silence and stillness)

Take a minute to be quiet before the Lord.

Ask God to search your heart

Psalm 139:23–24 (NLT)

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Point out anything in me that offends you,

and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Ask God to give you the courage to look within yourself too

Be Honest. Be Vulnerable.

What do you see?

Let go of anxiety and shame.

Begin to release anxiety and shame over to Jesus.

Listen for God’s voice and accept God’s love.

What is He saying to you?