Asap

Always Say A Prayer

Luke 11: 1-13

There's a story of a young disciple in India who left home and traveled in search of a spiritual master whom he at last found sitting in prayer beside a river. The young man begged the master to teach him. The master rose slowly and suddenly grabbed the younger man and dragged him into the river and under the water. Seconds passed, then a minute, then another minute. The young man struggled and kicked, but still the teacher held him down until at last he drew him coughing and gasping out of the water.

"While you were under the water, what was it you wanted?" the teacher asked, when he saw that the other was at last able to speak again.

"Air," the young man said, still panting.

"And how badly did you want it?"

"All . . . it was all I wanted in the world. With my whole soul I longed only for air."

"Good," said the teacher. "When you long for God in the same way that you have just now longed for air, come back to me and you will become a disciple."

At Duke University, a study of 4,000 men and women over 64 revealed that the risk of dying was 46% lower for those who frequently attend worship. Two other Duke studies found that the greater the incidence of prayer in a person's life, the lower the blood pressure, and the stronger the immune system. (www.duke.edu)

Here Luke presents Jesus in a familiar posture: engaged in prayer (see 3:21; 5:16; 6:12; 9:18, 28). The disciples, having noted how often Jesus goes off by himself to pray, ask him to customize a prayer for them to recite. John's disciples are well known for both fasting and praying (Luke 5:33). Hence it's understandable that Jesus' disciples would also want to be distinguished by prayer, yet at the same time distinct from John's disciples by having their own, unique, Jesus-given prayer.

While Luke's version of the so-called Lord's Prayer is notably shorter than the version recorded in Matthew 6:9-13, there's still enough there to reflect the prayer-tradition from which it was born. For example, both theological ideas and divine titles mirror long-established Jewish prayers. Most obvious are the parallels with the kaddish, which begins "Magnified and Sanctified be his great name."

One can also hear echoes of the most central prayer in Jewish life: the Eighteen Benedictions. In the Benediction, God's absolute uniqueness from the rest of creation is extolled, and the obligation for the individual to be holy as [God is] holy (Leviticus 11:45) is stressed. The title "Father" (verse 2) indicates God possesses both the power and the will to answer prayer. In this fiercely patriarchal culture, "father" denotes the absolute ruler of the domain. As ultimate ruler there's no power that could oppose the declaration "your kingdom come."

Yet the title father also denotes an emotional bond, a reason why God would want to hear and answer prayers. The prayers are coming from God's children. In verse three the traditional translation of epiousios as "daily" (i.e. "daily bread") isn't definitive. Its use here could be "bread for the day" (or daily bread), or "bread for the coming day" (an abundance of bread), or even "bread for subsistence" (necessary bread). In any case this petition suggests a sustenance level which depends on God each and every day for the necessary food for life.

Luke uses two different terms in verse 4 to describe the failures that require forgiveness. First, he speaks of sins which are committed against God. Then he switches to define the offenses committed against each other as debts or indebtedness. This two-pronged petition asks God for forgiveness, but also assumes individual men and women will extend their own forgiveness to all others. Also assumed in verse 4 is that times of trail are part of each and every life. The prayer here is that the father will keep trying times at bay. The term peirasmos or "trials" more literally translates as testing or temptation. The witness of the other gospels and the rest of the New Testament provides plenty of proof that testing or trials were part of the disciples' lot. The saving they receive isn't salvation from testing experiences, but salvation from being overwhelmed by these tests and trials.

After reciting this prayer for his disciples in verses 2-4, Jesus next provides additional teachings on prayer for those who would follow him. Thus while the disciples had only asked for a prayer, Jesus provides them with that and more, including directions on how often to employ this prayer. Jesus supplies this additional information in a kind of mini-parable found in verses 5-13. This story demonstrates both small-town intimacy and the larger ideal in Hellenistic culture that friends hold all things in common. As the previous petition for bread indicates, food (bread) was a precious commodity within the level villages scattered across these harsh lands. Yet the cultural traditions associated with guests would have made the inability to offer food to a visitor a shameful thing. Any friend/neighbor would help out another to avoid social shame and embarrassment. Nevertheless it's not the bonds of social etiquette or compassionate friendship that gets the rudely awakened neighbor out of his warm, cozy, kid-crowded, sound-asleep bed. Rather it's the downright desperate, won't-give-it-a-rest, annoying persistence of the bread-seeker that eventually gets him what he wants. The text describes this behavior as anaideia or literally "shamelessness," a word used to lift up one who commits some terrible social faux pas. Yet this anaideia is the reason the demand for bread is finally met.  The bread-seeking neighbor, who in his attempt to save face with his unexpected guest, behaves shamelessly in order to get the bread he needs? 

Jesus' own exegesis of this story seems, in fact, to praise this kind of shameless behavior -- persistence that's out of the box, beyond the norm, over the top. There's an intentional, rhythmic pattern to the command Jesus gives, a series of two-beat directives, each with a similar command: "ask," "search," "knock." Verse ten amplifies the rhythmic pattern with emphatic echoes: ask/receive, search/find, knock/open.

Jesus' command is all-encompassing. He insists that everyone will get God's positive response if they but have the boldness to ask/search/knock. Everyone would notably include all those typically denied status and service by the established religious community. In verse 11 Jesus again invites his disciples to put themselves into this picture, now not as a neighbor roused at night, but as a parent, as one bound by ties of family and love, who responds to the needs of a child. The disciples' ability to act compassionately and dependably with their own families despite their well-known wilfulness and wickedness is contrasted with the divine will to act with love and compassion. God's response vastly overshadows any and all human abilities.

The conclusion reached in this mini-parable -- "if you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give" (verse 13) -- uses the phrase poso mallon, an argument known as qal wehomer in the rabbinic tradition or "from the lesser to the greater" in Greek rhetoric.

Finally, Luke highlights the specific gift that God bestows, the Holy Spirit. Yet the Holy Spirit didn't come to the disciples until Pentecost, making the example something Jesus' followers couldn't yet fully grasp. Jesus firmly links the Holy Spirit to prayer in the disciples' minds (see other examples of this prayer/Spirit connection in Luke 1:14; 4:23; 31:8; 14:17; 9:11, 17). For all ensuing generations of Jesus followers, this link between a bold persistent prayer-life and the gift of the Holy Spirit becomes a sustaining lifeline of faith.

Recently one of the "My Turn" articles in Time magazine featured the experience of a dad bringing his daughter back home from her first year away at college. It was a west-to-east coast journey, made over the course of a few long days of driving.

Father and daughter held long conversations. The dad navigated, picking main routes, by-passes, restaurants, and over-night stops. The daughter drove, chose all the music, and chatted with her other girlfriends.

But Dad never left the house on the east coast. The daughter was on her first big solo adventure. Yet because of their joined-at-the-ear, cross-country cell phone connection, father and daughter were never out of touch. No one was really ever completely on their own.

The dad got peace of mind (sort of).  The daughter got her independence (sort of).

And no one had to face being completely alone, isolated from what was happening to the other.

Thanks to cell phones, instant messaging, pagers, voice mail, and satellite hook-ups, the whole world seems to know each other's business within minutes of any event. For families who have loved ones at risk in Iraq or Afghanistan, it's comforting to know that they can actually see and hear a faraway family member in case of an emergency. But for those same people, it can also be terrifying to hear unconfirmed announcements of attacks, ambushes, injuries, explosions, beheadings, and sudden deaths from the news media before any official military or personal announcements about their loved ones come their way.

Is it harder to hear every rumor the moment it hits the street? Or is it harder to wait until solid, confirmed details are available? The question is moot: both are agonizing for those who worry from a distance.

Most of us now have wireless umbilical cords. We feel isolated, even unimportant if we don't have someone desperately needing to talk to us every few minutes of every day. In the 19th century, when letter writing was both a cultural mandate and an art-form, separated family members, business partners, missionaries, or soldiers might have written faithfully every day. But it could be weeks, even months and sometimes years before the intended actually received their messages.

Yet whatever the distance or however primitive the communications technology, there has always been one historical constant: the comfort of prayer, the solace of frequent and lengthy contact with God on behalf of those so far away. Before instant messaging, email, even before the wonder of the telegram, people of faith kept in touch with the whole world by keeping in touch with God. Knowing that God was hearing the prayers of loved ones far away made the traveler, the soldier, the missionary feel closer and in communication with those at home.

Take the tradition of the prayer closet, a quiet space set aside for prayer and contemplation. When the door to the prayer closet closed, the doors to heaven were opened. Adoration, confession, celebration, frustration, condemnation -- all were taken to God in the prayer closet. The prayer closet was the first telegraph office, the first email address. The prayer closet has been open, available, and always online since God created Adam and Eve and invited them into a relationship.

The truth is prayer closets are common among many different faiths, and they don't all look the same. They aren't all found in the same kind of place. For the devout Muslim, any prayer rug, laid down pointing toward Mecca, becomes the prayer closet. For the Orthodox Jew, wrapping the prayer shawl (tallit) around head and shoulders while wearing the tefillin around one's head and arm creates a prayer closet. Western Christianity often incorporated a personal kneeler or prie deux into the prayer space devout Christians created. We still see some of these kneelers today at weddings and at funerals (in front of the casket).

Among the Eastern Orthodox, the Russian tradition of the poustinia has been brought to life by the Russian Christian Catherine de Hueck Doherty. The word poustinia is Russian, meaning desert. It's an ordinary word. Doherty writes, "If I was a little Russian girl, and a teacher during a geography lesson asked me to name a desert, I might say, 'Saharskaya Poustinia' -- the Sahara Desert."

But the word carries a deeper meaning in Russian. It also means a spiritual as well as a geographical place. It means what in English we call a prayer closet, a quiet, lonely place that people enter to communicate with and find God. A poustinia could be far away some place. But a poustinia could also be a corner in the house or a small room dedicated to prayer and meditation. (Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Poustinia: Christian Spirituality of the East for Western Man [Notre Dame: Ave Maria, 1975], 30-31.)

Where's your poustinia? Where's your place where you regain intimacy with God?

In today's gospel text Jesus responds to his disciples' request for a unique prayer. The disciples want a prayer that will distinguish them as his disciples when they pray it. The disciples want a prayer that will offer them the same connectedness and peace they have witnessed when Jesus himself has gone off to spend time in prayer.

But notice something that's often overlooked. The disciples had asked only for the words to pray. What did Jesus give them? Jesus provided both text and context, directions on how often they should offer their prayer. Like any responsible physician, Jesus suspects his disciples know that this prayer-prescription will only work when it's taken correctly. So Jesus' prescription includes the directions on how to take it: Pray as often as possible! Pray repeatedly! Pray annoyingly! Pray persistently! Pray endlessly.

We can never overdose on prayer. Jesus' command to always pray is reinforced elsewhere in the Scriptures by Paul:

    * "Join me in my struggle by praying to God" (Romans 15:30 NIV).

    * "Be alert and always keep on praying" (Ephesians 6:18 NIV).

    * "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful" (Colossians 4:2 NIV).

How can those of us who keep high-speed, high-stress, multi-tasking, dual-career, killer-commuting, kid-determined, work-determined, spouse-determined schedules possibly work in yet another daily (or more!) "to do" item into our routine? How can we possibly pray ceaselessly when we can't even find time to pick up the dry-cleaning or get to the grocery store?

There's an excellent chapter on fitting prayer into our personal lives in Zeb Bradford Long and Douglas McMurry, Prayer that Shapes the Future: How to Pray with Power and Authority (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999; 167-76). They show how you can pray walking, kneeling, with your hands lifted, with your head bowed, with your legs crossed, dancing, singing, shouting, etc. Whatever works for you -- just pray.

Other means of praying:

   1. Shout to the Lord (Psalm 47:1; 132:9);

   2. Sing new praise songs and old hymns (Matthew 13:52);

   3. Chant Scriptures (Psalm 119: 54ff);

   4. Quote Scriptures aloud (Ephesians 6:17);

   5. Offer dart prayers (e.g. "Have mercy on me, O God").

Why not find a prayer partner? If not a spouse, then a friend or a coworker. Or start a prayer journey, where you can jot down how God has spoken in your life -- through ideas, metaphors, dreams, Scripture passages -- and where you can record answered prayers. Write down prayer requests, prayer list, prayer concerns.

I have mixed feelings about paring down prayer to the point where one religious group has gone. They suggest that for those too busy but with a cell phone: don't fret. With the help of a cell phone's Short Message Service (SMS), they've translated the Lord's Prayer into shorthand so you can read it on your phone. The opening, "Our Father, who art in heaven," has been shortened to "dad@hvn" and "hallowed be thy name" is now "urspshl." The entire prayer has been shortened enough to fit into SMS's limit of 160 characters. A spokesperson calls the SMS prayer an experimental form of virtual worship.

When Jesus was the most stressed, the most pressed by the crowds, the most frustrated by his disciples' ignorance, most abused by the sinfulness and cruelty of humanity -- that's when Jesus found the most time for prayer. He knew that it was only in prayer, only in that intimate communication with the Creator of the Universe, that he could find the strength and peace his soul yearned for.

Why is it then that we tend to see prayer not as a first course of action, but as the last straw we grasp at in desperation when all our fix-it plans have unraveled?

How many times have you heard, "All I can do is pray"? Hello! Prayer isn't a last resort. Prayer is a first resort. Prayer isn't the least you can do. It's the most you can do. Prayer is the most powerful thing you can do.

Somebody has said that leadership determines the direction of the church; structure determines the size of the church; relationships determine the morale of the church; the personnel determine the potential of the church; but prayer determines the effectiveness of the church.

Then why don't we pray?

    * The highest privilege ever afforded to humans is the power of prayer. Then why don't we pray?

    * We have the privilege to talk to the highest potentate in all the universe. Then why don't we pray?

    * The most powerful force accessible to man is the potential of prayer. Then why don't we pray?

    * The greatest longing in the heart of God is to talk to his children. Then why don't we pray?

    * Nothing is impossible to those who pray. So why don't we pray?

    * No person ever fainted or faltered who gave himself or herself to prayer. Then why don't we pray?

    * Every sin is forgiven, every stain is washed clean, all guilt diminished to those who pray. Then why don't we pray?

    * Hell moves farther away, Satan flees from the one who prays. Then why don't we pray?

    * Anointing will come, mountains will be moved, valleys made smooth, rivers made crossable, the inaccessible made accessible, the impossible made possible, dreams come through to the one who prays. Then why don't we pray?

    * Jesus said that we ought always to pray. So why don't we pray?

    * Paul encouraged prayer without ceasing. Then why don't we pray?

    * The riches of heaven are open to those who pray in his name. Then why don't we pray?

    * Everyone can pray, the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the strong, the weak, the child, the aged, the sinner, the prisoner, in any nation, in any language, all can pray. Then why don't we pray?

Ever wonder about the acronym ASAP? Generally we think of it in terms of even more hurry and stress in our lives: "As soon as possible." Maybe if we think of this abbreviation in a different manner, we'll begin to find a new way to deal with those rough days along the way.

    There's work to do, deadlines to meet, you've got no time to spare, But as you hurry and scurry, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer.

    In the midst of family chaos, quality time is rare. Do your best; let God do the rest, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer.

    It may seem like your worries are more than you can bear. Slow down and take a breather, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer.

    God knows how stressful life is; he wants to ease our cares, And he'll respond to all your needs, ASAP: Always Say a Prayer.[GDS13] 

Sv Me Fm Hl!
 

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