Second Presbyterian Church

"Prayer & Provision:
Preaching From the Gospel of Luke"
January 16, 2005

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2005 » Sermons for January 2005 » Sermons from the Series on Luke

#38 in the Series on Luke
The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Proverbs 3: 25-29
• Luke 11: 1-13

As a minister I am most often asked about prayer and how to pray. Prayer is so important, because it reveals to us, when we observe ourselves, how we believe and how and where we disbelieve.

For example, I have had people tell me that they cannot pray to God, because they do not feel close to him. A statement like that reveals some interesting possibilities. Does the person mean that they believe that God has abandoned him, therefore He's too far away to be able to hear him if he prayed anyway? Does it mean that the person unconsciously assumes that she is only close to God when she FEELS close to God? The assumption means that God is either close, or far away. Depending upon what kind of mood she's in dictates how close God really is. That makes God a pretty facetious God who comes and goes with the whims of our emotional moods.

Some people pray long, complicated prayers to God. Even though they are praying in private to God, they explain their situation as much as they can to God and try to get Him to see it the way the one who is praying sees it. In other words, the person praying is trying to convince God to understand the situation in a certain way so that God will respond and answer his prayer the way he WANTS him to answer the prayer! These kinds of prayers forget that God is all knowing and that He doesn't have problems understanding; we do! These kinds of prayers seem to assume that we know more than God does! They indeed reveal much about who we are and how we perceive the nature of God.

Some people are afraid to pray. They are afraid that they might pray the wrong prayer, or say the wrong words in a way that will displease God. It seems to imply a stern, strict god who is angry and hostile and he's just waiting for an excuse to blast the person! "Aha!" says the Lord, "You blew it that time! You said the wrong thing! You uttered a blasphemy! Now I've got you! You will suffer for that one!" It's pretty hard to pray to the Lord when our internal image of God is so hostile and cruel.

Similarly, some people are afraid to pray for a specific need. They fear that it is not right for them to pray for something they want or need. But, what is there to fear? If it is something that is in the will of God, then the prayer will be answered affirmatively. If it is something that is NOT in the will of God, then the Lord will lovingly answer, "No." We do not have to fear asking for the wrong thing. God is not going to zap us for that! He will be like any loving father; He will say, "No." But there is no sin to ask. Even Jesus, who knew he was to go to the cross and die, asked the Father to remove this "cup" from him. It was not in the will of God to do so, but it was okay for Jesus to at least ask. And so it is also with us; we may ask. We just have to be willing to receive the answer God has for our prayer.

We aren't the only one who have, or had, concerns about prayer. We are in good company. Jesus was praying and his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, just like John the Baptist taught his disciples. The answer was simple: When you pray, say:

Father, Holy is your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day what we need to eat.
Forgive us for our sins, for we ourselves are forgiving what everyone else owes us.
And don't let us be tempted by that which will lead us astray.

Without going into the technicalities of this prayer, let me just say this. This is a model prayer that encourages us to pray for the completion of the Kingdom of God. It is a model (we don't have to say it verbatim, just something like it!) that subsumes our wishes and desires to the will of a loving, provident God who is Father.

In other words it is a way for us to PRAY THE WILL OF GOD, rather than just pray for what we want. It moves us away from a model of prayer that makes God some kind of divine Vending machine! In goes our prayer; out comes the answer. I hope you understand that sometimes we feel compelled to pray for a certain outcome to something. Don't avoid that. The Lord is very understanding of our anxiety and needs. He is not all that keen to give us a hard time, just because we don't pray exactly the way we preachers and biblical scholars tell you is the right way to pray.

Even so, our spiritual goal is to ask for the Holy Spirit. And, according to the scriptures we read today, it is guaranteed that we receive it! "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." (v 10)

Again, this is not a vending machine formula of prayer; it is a guarantee from Jesus that you and I shall receive God's blessings even as we pray to become more responsive to God's will.

These are not prayers of, "Lord, please let me find a way to get that new car I am really wanting." It is not a prayer of, "Lord, please let me find the right spouse, so I can finally be married." These prayer examples can be prayed, but that is not what Jesus is talking about in these Bible verses!

These assurances are simply, if you seek to follow Jesus and wish to be more the way Christ wants you to be, then it is guaranteed that God's Holy Spirit will come and support you in this journey of faith.

That is the good provision given to us from a loving, providential Father who is God. Christ knows what we need even before we ask. And he provides to his children according to his loving providence, so that we can live this life in faith and not be discouraged or deterred by the rampant sin that exists in our world and within ourselves. Amen.

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.