Praying and Acting (sermon2)

I - Lutefisk

story

I noticed

Y - What can we do to grow in faith?

we abandoned "religion" and "religious practice" in favor of "spiritually"and now we don't know how to find god anymore

My friends are constantly asking this question. Looking for something to build a faith with because we never learned the ancient structures of faith or bothered to bring them into the modern world.

And I think many people today are asking this question. How do I have a vibrant faith, a living faith, a strong faith.

One that can carry me through hard stuff. One that challenges how I think about the world and others. One that impacts my family, my relationships, my workplace, and my community. And one that will last not just now (or when I’m feeling it) But through all the stages of my life.

We are going to spend this month trying to reclaim these practices so we might grow closer it God.

The First is prayer...

Intro -

When I was in elementary school I went out for the basketball team. We had a basketball hoop at my house and I loved shooting hoops and was really excited to play with others.

But you will never guess what happened. I went to the first practice and I was so dissapointed.

We diddnt play any basketball.

We got all dressed up.

Out on the court.

and instead of grabbing the balls and shooting some hoops the coach had us run.

and do all these drills. dribbling, passing, running back and fourth.

I had imagined that being on the basketball team meant that I got to play more basketball!

and I just could not get my head around the idea that drilling, practicing, and conditioning would make me a better player.

It seemed to me that the best way to get good at basketball was to play basketball more.

But of course anyone who has ever praciced anything knows that the ways you train for something arent always the same as teh ways you preform that thing.

That if you want to get really good at basketball there are all kinds of things you have to get good at besides just playing more games.

The same is true for our faith and life. We tend to think the key moments in our faith and life are defined by decisions and moves made in the moment. The difficult moral decisions. The trails that we weather or not. The big religious experiences or mission trips or youth conferences. But the truth is for centuries all the way back to be fore Jesus God’s people have seen “practicing” faith as absolutely key to building a lasting faith that withstands and survives for those big moments.

Most Christians throughout history adopted a series of biblical practices that helped their faith grow and helped them grow closer to God and produce fruit in those big moments. But sadly we have let many of those practices GO because Christians started to forget why we did them. SO

For the next month our teaching series here at bethel, and at our sister church Zion is focused on some of the key drills or practices of the Christian faith. Things that Christians have done to help their faith become strong, deeply rooted throughout history. Things that Christians have done when the sun is shining so that when the rains come they still hold on to their rock.

This will be a challenge to all of us but I invite you to try these things along with me and these two churches as we learn to practice faith together. As you try these practices take some time and write down the ways you are encountering God in them. When we have our joint service in November we are going to have a chance to share what God has done and how he has worked in and through us as we open ourselves up to him through these practices.

This week: Praying and acting...

I -

Y -

G - “Every time you pray Jesus Prayer, your pray his message and his mission for your life.”

Transition: The first step to growing closer to God is like the first step to developing a deeper relationship with any person conversation.

And the way we talk to God says a lot about how we understand God. The way we pray is absolutely central to the Christian Life, just like the way you talk to your friends sets the tone for that relationship.

So Jesus places a teaching on how to pray, right at the center of his biggest collection of teachings in the bible.

Walk through The Text

When you pray

Dont

Pray like a hypocrite - Pray for likes

OR Pray like a pagan - Pray like God doesn’t love you.

Instead pray this way. (read it together)

why does Jesus tell his disciples to pray like this?

...

Just one of those things the bible says so you are supposed to do it?

(read it together)

It’s theologically correct?

The words are somehow special?

...

I ask why because for many people this prayer is so old, confusing, formal, and we say it without thinking. That for many of us it has lost all meaning.

So much so that in the church I grew up the first time I remember learning this prayer was in confirmation class. We tossed it away, like so many other things we had forgotten the use of.

I think even when we pray it today, the words are just words, we give little to no thought to them.

2 halves.

first half is very similar to a common Jewish prayer at the time. But the second half is unique to Jesus.

2nd half, Why does Jesus us the 1st person Plural? Us vs Me. (they are supposed to be praying alone, why us?

why does Jesus tell his disciples to pray like this?

...

...

Just one of those things the bible says so you are supposed to do it?

It’s theologically correct?

The words are somehow special?

I ask why because for many people this prayer is so old, confusing, formal, and we say it without thinking. That for many of us it has lost all meaning.

So much so that in the church I grew up the first time I remember learning this prayer was in confirmation class. We tossed it away, like so many other things we had forgotten the use of.

I think even when we pray it today, the words are just words, we give little to no thought to them.

But if we are going to take what Jesus says about prayer seriously we should try and dust off this old prayer, and figure out what it is meant for. AND I think the key to seeing this prayer in a new way comes from

A new way to look at an old prayer -

It goes back to what Jesus says is the most important command: it's part of our mission. LOVE God Love Others. In Jesus basically says its all about love. The commands of the bible can be summed up by one command with two parts LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS. You cant do one without the other.

Jesus says at the end of the Day it comes down to LOVE, love for God and love for Others.

The Jesus prayer is a way of praying that lines up with how Jesus sees the world and the story of the world. Through the lens of the great command and the role of love.

Lets hold that command in our minds as we look at the prayer again.

So lets look at the prayer through this lens of love, when you do the first thing you notice is that LOVE and are hiding in every line of the prayer

Love God - Love Others

So lets look at the prayer through this lens - 2 halves

It begins with a statement about God as Father. It Highlights God's love for us. He loves us like a good father.

It continues with a petition of Ultimately what a Christian should want. God's Kingdom (a kingdom of his love) come down on Earth. God bringing his love for the world and it’s people fully on earth as it is in heaven.

How does God accomplish his work on Earth usually?

Well, Through people he loves of course.

So the beginning of the prayer kind of goes like this. God Loves you like his Child - God's love. Make his name holy - love god God bring your kingdom - God's love On Earth just like it is in heaven- by how we love others

God Loves you like his Child - God's love. Make his name holy - love god God bring your kingdom - God's love On Earth just like it is in heaven- by how we love others

Then Jesus gets more specific in three big ways that we experience God's love on earth and three ways we often have a chance to share it. Notice how the second half of the prayer uses We/Us language rather than the I/me language you normally would use if praying by yourself as Jesus commands at the begining

The US/We language reminds us that we aren't on our own, but are called to share God’s love and provision with others

In depending on God daily bread (or our daily needs for survival.) The US implies our eyes are open to the daily needs of Others in God’s family. God loves you (and if you have enough bread, - so love others by sharing it.)

In depending on God for forgiveness (we are called to offer it) God loves you (in forgiveness) - so love others (by forgiving)

In depending on God for protection from sin and trials (we are called to come alongside those facing trials and temptations) God loves you through the hard stuff - so love others (through the hard stuff too)

In the second half of the prayer we find, God's love, played out in our lives and THROUGH our lives into the lives of OTHERS.

Every time we pray the prayer we tell the story of God’s LOVE poured out, and how we should ACT in light of it (loving others by sharing that love in our actions) The love God lavishes on us is meant to be shared. That we are not cups that God fills with his love, but valves that can either block the flow or allow it to flow through us.

“Every time you pray Jesus prayer, you pray his message and your mission.”

His message that God loves you.

Your mission to share that love with others.

God loves you SO love God.

God loves you SO love others.

Praying and Acting - Loving God and Loving Others forever bound together.

Y - My challenge: Pray the Love God Love Others Prayer consistently

Trans: Jesus thought praying in this way was CENTRAL to having a relationship with God. SO lets take him at his word. My challenge to you and me today is try praying like this.

1. Adopt a practice of praying this prayer like the disciples - how disciples have prayed for centuries. morning, noon, afternoon.

It seems clear from Matthew that Jesus imagined his disciples would pause 3 times a day consistently to pray this GOSPEL prayer. IN our own minds or in our own room. Consistently.

When I started doing this i set a reminder in my phone, and when it goes off. No matter where I am I will pause briefly to say this prayer.

I found as I have adopted this practice often it my phone bings and reminds me its time to pray, at precisely the time I am feeling emptiest, or feeling coldest to the needs and hurts of others. When i am cut off from people.

So lets just try this together for the rest of the month, and see what God does.

Pay attention to how you experience God when you open yourself up to him in this practice. Write down your experience and consider sharing it at our joint service in November.

W-

You may find that as you pray his prayer a few things happen inside of you.

You become more consistently aware of the ways God shows his love to you in big and small ways as your Father. The way he provides for your daily bread, forgives you when you sin, and leads you out of and through trails or temptations.

You are more able to Love and trust God in every aspect of your life as a result of that.

You become aware of the ways others areond you are in need of their daily bread, in need of forgiveness, or are going through times of testing or temptation. And through that awareness you will find GOd prompting you to act in those sitiuations. To give to a friend in need. To offer forgiveness when someone wrongs you. And to come alongside those brothers and sisters facing times of trails.

And it is through that kind of consistent prayer, and acting on those thoughts that you will find your thoughts more aligned with Gods, your life more reflective of Christ’s, and your faith and relationship with GOd growing stronger and more fruitful.

As you pray the good news and live it out in your life.

lets pray