Praying Well Requires Loving Well
Luke 11:1-13
Rev. Kenneth M. Locke
The Downtown Presbyterian Church
July 25, 2010
Our Scripture lesson this morning takes us into the realm of prayer. That's a good thing. Prayer is important. Everyone prays. Not all Christians live faithful lives, not all Christians give sacrificially of their time and abilities, but everyone prays. Even agnostics and atheists pray. If you're in a deep enough hole trust me, you'll pray.
Even Jesus prays. He doesn't talk about it much. He actually talks about money more than anything else. Money was just as big a problem in the 1st century as it is today. Prayer comes in second or third.
Everyone spends money. But everyone prays.
So we read our text today and we see, "Lord, teach us to pray." Alright! Instruction on prayer. Maybe some diagrams, a pattern or two, how to hold your hands just right, which words to use for maximum efficiency. How to get prayers from your lips to God's ears in the fastest way possible. It's going to be just like Harry Potter. Hold your wand just so and speak the following incantation just right and your prayers will be 100% effective. This is going to be good.
But instead we get this tired, over-used Lord's Prayer. "Our Father, who art in heaven." Mumble, mumble, mumble. We know it so well we can say it in our sleep.
Not that it's not important. It is important. For one thing it tells us how much God loves us. By telling us to call God "Father" Jesus is saying we have the same relationship with God he has. Jesus is telling us we have the same relationship to God he has and that's powerful. God loves us just as much as God loves Jesus. God loves us just as much as God loves God's only begotten son.
But Jesus is not giving us a magical formula of specific things to ask for. Jesus is actually setting out broad guidelines for what matters. Pray for a loving relationship with God. Pray for forgiving and healthy relationships with others. Pray for a healthy relationship with yourself. Not self-denial. Not hoarding. Bread for today. Healthy.
And then we have this long, involved story and this strange illustration that seem to be advocating boldness. Don't be shy! Tell God exactly what you want! Bang your fist and spell it out and you'll get it every time. God has to give us what we want if we're just bold enough.
Honestly, I think that's missing it. Jesus is telling us something about the nature of God. God doesn't have to be pushed. God is not asleep behind a locked door. God doesn't have to be woken up and God is not a cruel sadist with a penchant for nasty tricks.
Jesus is using a negative example to tell us what God is really like. God is alert. God is ready. God wants to give us good things. Ask. That's all. Just ask. God wants to give us good things and all we have to do is ask!
But here's the rub. Do we really know what to ask for? Do we really know what's good for us? Maybe we know what we want but do we know what's good for us? Not what is going to make us happiest right this minute but what is good for us in the long-run?
Let me ask it this way. Do we know God? Do we genuinely know God? If we genuinely know God then yes, we do know what's best for us.
But frankly most of us don't know God. We may talk to God a lot. But talking is not the same as knowing.
I have a friend who in his retirement has taken up speed dating. You know what I'm talking about; a bunch of strangers in a room and you have two minutes to talk to someone then a bell rings and you rotate. He says it's great because there are always more women than men. At his age speed dating is probably a good idea. His dating window is closing pretty fast.
He says he's gone out with one or two of these women he's met speed dating. The problem is when he goes out with them he finds they're different from the impression he got when he met them. And I'm sure they say the same about him.
You can't really know a person in just 2 minutes. They seem great at first but knowing someone takes time. You have to spend time at it. And you have to pay attention. You have to train yourself to be attuned to them. Knowing someone requires being genuinely be present with the person.
I've been married 21 years and I'm just now getting to where I think I really know my wife. I'm just now getting to the point I know her well enough to love her well.
If that sounds strange all I can say is try it. Sharing bed and board isn't enough. Just talking isn't enough. You have to be present, attentive, to get to know someone.
So how well do we know God?
It matters. It matters a lot. The more we know God, the more we know our self. The more we know what we really need.
Our Scripture today is telling us something about God. God loves us. And it's telling us something about what we really need. Good relations with God. Good relations with others. Good relations with ourselves.
Which, interestingly enough, is what we found in the story of the Good Samaritan. What must I do to live in God's kingdom of loving relationships? Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus is telling us to pray for the same things we learned in the stories of the Good Samaritan and Mary & Martha. Love others. Love yourself. And it all starts with loving God well.
Remember what we said when we looked at those stories. If we're not loving others well we're probably not loving ourselves well. If we're not loving ourselves well we're probably not loving God well.
If we're not loving God well we're probably not spending enough time with God. Speed dating won't do it.
If we're not loving God well we're probably not being attentive to God. We can't just talk. Talking is good but we also have to listen. We need to be attuned to God's work in the world. We need to pay attention to God's presence in others. We need to spend time with the suffering, the place where God always is. We need to give enough time and money to God's work we actually have to rely on God to get by.
Praying is important. We see Jesus doing it and whatever Jesus does is important.
In the Lord's Prayer Jesus tells us what matters. Love God. Love others. Love yourself.
The way to do that is by knowing God. It's not a magic formula. It takes time and effort and close attention. But the more we know God, the more we know how much God loves us, the more we pray for what really matters.
I think Coleridge had it right. "He prayeth best who loveth best all things both great and small. For the Lord God who maketh us, he made and loveth all." Praying is about loving. And loving begins with God.