Prayer as Formation - Pt. 2

Opening Prayer

Let’s open with prayer. Trying something different today. If you have a prayer concern, just offer it up out loud in this space. It can be a situation, a need, a family member or friend. When I sense we are finished I will close out our prayer.

Dear friends who are struggling in the marriage

For our children and friends who are not walking with the Lord

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Help us to be so joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may become a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

We are doing part 2 of a series we began last summer on the Sermon on the Mount called The Jesus Manifesto. A manifesto is a public declaration of belief, policy, and motives. A manifesto outlines what a person or group believes and the kinds of things they will practice. In this respect, the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus’ manifesto. It provides the definitive guide for what he meant when he said, “Come, follow me.”

In part 2 of the series we are looking at the kinds of kingdom practices that will help form us to be mature and thriving disciples of Jesus. One of the things we’re trying to stress is that Spiritual practices are not a means to get you into heaven but to get heaven into you. To make us more like Christ in our thoughts, words, and actions. We will continue with our theme from last week as we look specifically at the Lord’s Prayer: Your prayer life has the power to either conform you to the world, or to transform you to the image of Christ.

Teach us to pray

I want to begin by looking at Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer. “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.” He said to them, “When you pray, say...(Luke 11:1–2, NRSV).” Notice that Jesus didn’t respond by saying, “Well, prayer is just talking with God.” It is talking with God, but if that was all it merely was, would Jesus gone on to give them a way to approach him in prayer?

Notice that they weren’t merely asking to be given a unique way to pray - something that would set them apart from others. They had been watching him pray, and as a result it became clear to them that their prayer life was lacking. It had a deficit. And so implicit in their request is the idea that they could pray badly, in ways that are at cross-purposes with God.

Implicit in their request is the idea that “we pray now, but we would like to pray better.” They understood that how one prayed determined one’s beliefs and practices. In short, prayer forms us.

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

Luke presents Jesus’ response to this request as a prayer to recite. That’s the meaning when Jesus says, “When you pray, say...” The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer that can simply be said as is, as long as it is said with thoughtful intention.

But this morning I want to focus on Matthew’s version. Here, Jesus presents the prayer more as a form to guide and expand our own praying. How does this ancient prayer of Jesus form us into his image? Time prevents me from going verse-by-verse through the prayer, but let me pull out a few key phrases to see how they can form our soul as we pray.

Lord, teach us to pray!

Our

Let’s begin with the first word, “Our”. One of the consequences of the Enlightenment is an over-realized individuality. Most of us now think primarily of ourselves first as individuals, and only second as members of a family, a church, a city, etc. As individuality has made its way into the church, it has created a Christian spirituality that places the focus on the individuals personal and private relationship with God. This helps explain why so many people who claim the name Christian don’t feel compelled to make worship attendance a priority. After all, it its just God and me, I can worship God anywhere - especially while pursuing my favorite hobby.

It also explains a very individualist worship experience that many Christians look for and expect. It drives a desire to make worship about “what I get out of it”. I can walk into about any church on a Sunday morning, sit in my chair, get my spiritual groove on with God, and go home, without ever giving any thought to those who sat around me and what their personal struggles and needs were. We carry our over-realized individuality into our family of faith.

So Jesus begins the prayer with “Our”. It is OUR prayer to OUR father. It is the confession, right off the bat, that we are not in this alone. We are saved as individuals, but we are saved into a family.

“Our” helps us to step outside of ourselves and to cast our eyes on those around us, lifting them up with our prayer. Reclaiming the “Our” in the Lord’s Prayer would be a strong antidote to the individualistic spirituality that places personal fulfillment above family wholeness.

Lord, teach us to pray!

Father

The second word in the prayer is “Father”. This is a word that is difficult for same to say, let alone pray. Several years ago we did a course called Men’s Fraternity. One of the sessions was called The Father Wound. It refers to a deficit many men feel as a result of a father who was either physically or emotionally absent.

But I think the “father wound” affects us all, men and women. Not only the would left by an absentee earthly father, but a wound that comes from not knowing in our heart who the Father is and his love for us.

To call God “Father” is a very tenacious act. Who are we, mere mortals, and sinful at that, to look upon God as a Father? And yet this is the consistent affirmation of the NT.

“But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,” (John 1:12, NRSV)

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” (1 John 3:1, NRSV)

To call God “Father” is to establish one’s identity as a daughter or son of God. And until this identity is firmly fixed in us we will continue to be victims of a father wound. Julie and I are in a long-distance counseling relationship with a young couple who both carry a father wound that now threatens their marriage. They both had less that ideal images of fatherhood growing up, which has left scars on their hearts which makes it hard to see God as Father. But calling God “Father” redeems the meaning of “father”. He sets the standard for human fathers, rather than human fathers setting the standard for God. God is the good, good Father.

Do you know beyond doubt that God is your Father? This is what is affirmed every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer.

Lord, teach us to pray!

Hallowed

The next word is “hallowed”. You can see now why we can’t go verse by verse this morning.

What does it mean to hallow God’s name? To hallow God is to reverse him, to give him ultimate respect. The Bible often uses the phrase “fear of the Lord” to describe this attitude. The Jews treated the name of God with utmost reverence, refusing to even say it lest they somehow blaspheme. Instead, they often used the Hebrew word for name, which is “Shem”. So they would call God, Ha Shem - The Name.

To hallow God’s name isn’t only to properly revere and respect him. Hallowing God’s name reminds our soul to whom it is that we pray. That he is the one who created everything with the word of his mouth. That when his people were in bondage he come to their need, splitting the ocean before them. That he walked among us in the flesh, delivering us from our demons and the power of darkness. That he is mighty to save those who call on him.

Last week a dear friend shared a passage from Isaiah that was very meaningful to him. God is speaking and say, “To whom then will you compare me, or who is my equal? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these [the stars]? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing (Isaiah 40:25–26, NRSV).” What has come against you that is greater than God? What affection has seized your heart that is more beautiful than he? What problem do you face that the Holy One cannot solve? Our soul is formed in remembrance as we hallow the name of God in prayer.

Lord, teach us to pray!

Transforming prayer

The prayer goes on to guide and form us to ask that God’s will, and not our own, be done on earth. It encourages us to bring our needs and petitions to him as the one who sustains us through our daily bread. It invites us to practice one of the most neglected yet healing forms of Christian spirituality, confession and absolution. And it asks God for safekeeping as we go out to love others in Jesus’ name.

Each of these elements of the Lord’s Prayer train our heart and mind to pray like Jesus. To pray in ways that transform us to his image instead of conforming us to be more like the world. Without this guide, our prayers can descend into a heavenly Amazon Wish List. Remember, greedy people, without formation, will tend to pray selfish prayers, only reinforcing their own greed. Worried people, without formation, will tend to pray fearful prayers, only reinforcing their own worries.

But here is what I know is true this morning. There is within many of you a latent desire to get better at prayer. The Spirit is reviving this in you right now. You want to pray God’s thoughts after him, and to see your own will be increasingly formed to that of Christ. You will heed these words of Jesus, and you will go home and meditate on their meaning, and you will make a commitment to let your prayer life take on a new dimension that brings God’s kingdom to earth and that shapes your soul to that of your Savior. When it is hard or feels stagnant, don’t quit, for God is going to bring a harvest of fruit in your life. You are going to experience your prayer life re-shaping how you see God, how you see others, and how you see yourself. I know that for some of you today, you will never prayer the Lord’s Prayer in the same way again.

Lord, teach us to pray! Amen and amen.

Communion

We come to the table this morning as those who find that the strength for spiritual formation is lacking on our own. Left to our own devices we devolve into old habits and tendencies. We need spiritual strength to maintain the commitments we have made. At the table we find spiritual strength and nourishment as we remember the saving acts of God that he accomplished through Jesus. We are strengthened in our inner person as we receive the mystery of the body and blood of Jesus, and we find hope that even when we fail, God will never fail us, for he is truly our Savior, the God who is with us.

And so we are bold to pray...

The Lords Prayer

Words of Institution