Sermon from March 13

Sorry this is a little late being posted, but it's the sermon from March 13.

The Right Way To Pray

I don’t know if it will come as a surprise to many of you or not, but I like to work in the kitchen.  I am at home with an apron on, with a knife in my hand and a cutting board on the countertop.  I don’t mind putting the dough out there on the counter and kneading it through for a while, or stirring a pot that’s bubbling with something delicious inside.  And I definitely don’t mind trying out the things that come together when all the mixing and stirring and cooking and baking is done, and there are one or two other people in the house who have a tendency to like the things that come together, as well.

I have a lot of different cookbooks on the shelf in the kitchen, too.  And over the years, I’ve noticed something about the books that I tend to reach toward when it comes dinner time.  A few of them have some very detailed recipes in them.  You have to do certain steps and carefully measure things out.  You have to add things in a particular order, which sometimes makes sense, but at other times doesn’t really seem to have any rhyme or reason.  

I don’t tend to reach for those books very often.  They’re just too complicated.  In some ways, it takes the joy of out cooking when you spend more time worrying about the amount of baking soda you have to add than in stirring the things together and watching the meal or dish come to life.  I’ve started to learn that any recipe that gets too complicated or intricate isn’t going to be very much fun to put together.  Sure, the dish may turn out spectacular, but I really do start to wonder if it’s worth all the time and effort that I know I’ll have to put into it.

On the other hand, I have a number of books that contain fairly simple recipes.  I like recipes that say something along the lines of, “Throw the marinate ingredients into a blender.  Pour over the meat.  Let it sit for a few hours.  Now bake it.”  It’s nice.  It’s simple.  It’s easy to follow.  And in my experience, those dishes that come from the simple recipes tend to taste almost as good as those complicated ones that demand much more time and effort to create.

In a way, I would imagine that we approach our prayer life in much the same way.  Maybe you’ve had this kind of experience before.  You’re at a bible study or some other event, and someone is asked to pray.  Someone steps up, and they start offering a prayer.  They’re talking to God like He’s their best buddy, and they seem to know all the right words to say.  As they’re talking to God, it’s almost like they’re telling a good story.  You’re amazed by the language they are using, and how they just seem to know the right words to say.  And as they bring this resounding prayer to an end, you almost want to shout out your “Amen” because no one could have said it better.

And then, you’re left with the feeling.  What’s missing in me that keeps me from praying like that?  Why do I seem to fumble over the words to say?  Why don’t I know the perfect phrase for the perfect moment?  Why does this person seem so courageous, while I hope that no one calls on me to offer a prayer?  Is it a gift from God, and if so, did I get left out?  Did they take a class to be able to pray like that, and should I think about that same class to help me along?

I do think that God gives some people the gift of prayer like that.  And I don’t know about you.  I can only really speak from my personal experience.  I’m a fairly simple guy.  I like simple, easy prayers.  I don’t always know the words to say.  I don’t always pray with the feeling that Jesus is right there beside me.  I sure didn’t take any classes to become a better pray-er, and you may be surprised to learn that they didn’t offer those classes at the seminary.  I would much rather stick to a simple prayer life. 

In other words, I can relate to the disciples’ request we heard in Luke 11.  Lord, teach us how to pray.  I don’t have the spiritual gift of coming up with intricate prayers that just seem to say the right thing.  I know how the disciples feel.  There are so many times that I offer my brief little simple prayer, and then wonder if God really wants to pay attention to something so small, so lacking in anything dynamic.  After all, He could listen to those gifted pray-ers.  What is my prayer compared to theirs?

That’s why I love the prayer that Jesus taught His disciples that day.  I suspect that’s the same reason why so many Christians over the centuries have loved this prayer that our Lord Jesus taught.  As you look at it, it’s not really that complicated of a prayer.  It’s pretty simple.  The phrases are pretty short and to the point.  The whole thing takes less than 30 seconds to say.  And yet, it’s a prayer that covers practically everything.  It’s simple.  It’s easy to remember or to memorize, and it just seems to stick with you.

A nice simple prayer, taught to us by God Himself.  It seems like God understands us pretty well.  He knows that He has given a few people the gift of those intricate prayers, and He knows that most of us need something pretty easy and simple to guide us in our prayers.  And so this prayer of Jesus is a great one for us to have as part of our regular prayer life.

It’s very simple.  And yet, as you look at that prayer, there is a depth to it that we could never fully reach.  It seems to say so much so easily, and yet, we could never find the end of the ways that it speaks to our life.  We pray a simple little petition, such as “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us”, and we see how that impacts so much of our lives.  We see that there is more theological stuff (and yes, that is a technical word) in that little phrase than we could ever imagine.

Let’s just think about that for a moment.  “Forgive us our trespasses.”  It means that are people who have trespassed.  We’ve crossed over into territory where we shouldn’t have gone.  That’s our sin at work.  We’ve gone and done things that God told us not to do.  We’ve failed to do so many of the things that God tells us we are to be active in doing in our lives.  We need God’s forgiveness for those things.  And as Christians, we know what all God had do to in order to give that forgiveness to us.  He had to give up His only Son, Jesus, to live the perfect life, die a sacrificial death in our place, and to rise victoriously so that we could know that we are forgiven.  

On top of that, we also see that we need God to forgive us our trespasses or sins that crop up so frequently in our lives.  Just today, you can probably recall any number of times that you have needed forgiveness, for something you did or failed to do, for something you said or failed to say, and even for some thought that flashed through your head.  We don’t have to look very far or very hard to see that this simple little phrase has a depth to it that speaks to so much of our life.

And that’s without even touching the second half of the phrase!  Just think of all the things that we could ponder as we thought about the forgiveness we offer to others.  Think about how God wants us to be a forgiven people, and then to go forth as a forgiving people.  I would dare say that we could spend quite a time in prayer simply thinking about those things and bringing them before our Father, who is in heaven.

“Lord, teach us to pray.”  It’s a plea that I know I make often to the Lord, and it’s probably one that you’ve thought or asked a time or two in your life.  And Jesus responds with this most marvelous, simple prayer.  It’s a prayer that is known and loved.  It’s one that is probably imprinted in your mind here today.  Even though I guide you to the inside of the back cover of the hymnal when the time comes in our worship to say it, I’m pretty sure that most of you don’t even need to turn there.

And if you were looking for a guide to deepen your prayer life, I have a suggestion.  This past week, I looked over my bookshelves and came across a number of different guides and suggestions regarding prayer life.  These are just a few of the ones that I found.  And I’m actually a little overwhelmed by it.  For what seems like it should be such a simple thing, there sure are a lot of complicated books out there that want to serve as guides.

But I have a different suggestion for you.  This week, as you look to deepen your prayer life, take this prayer that Jesus taught.  After you say it, take just one of the phrases, or petitions, and think about the parts of your life that the petition speaks to.  If you need a little guide to get at what Jesus is saying by that petition, the best place I can guide you is to the Small Catechism.  It’s got some really good meanings of the different phrases that can give a jump start to your thoughts and prayers.

In some ways, we can almost treat the Lord’s Prayer like that Small Catechism.  Martin Luther wrote the book, and somewhere along the way mentioned that he went through it each day and learned something new.  And that seems almost baffling.  “You wrote it!” we might want to say to him.  How can you keep learning something new every day?  But as he said that, it seems he wasn’t talking so much about the content, but about the application of the different teachings that are found there.  There’s always something new to be learned about how God’s Word applies to our lives.

I think we could say the same thing about this simple prayer of Jesus that we call the Lord’s Prayer.  One simple part can speak to so much of our lives.  It can give us a guide as we think about the times we approach our Father in prayer.  We can take one simple phrase out of it, and so much of our world unfolds as we see the many different ways that the particular phrase speaks to our life.  

Maybe that’s a good challenge for me to put before you this week.  For your prayers, say this prayer of Jesus.  Then, for the next seven days, focus on one phrase.  Talk to the Father about the different ways that you see that phrase at work in your life.  Bring Him the times you’ve failed to live up to what that phrase is saying, and ask for His forgiveness.  Ask Him to show you those parts of your life where that phrase comes to life, and the opportunities He provides for you to live it out.  Ask Him to give you the recognition and courage to make the most of those opportunities.

A simple prayer that has so much to say.  It’s so much like God.  He can take a simple thing like our forgiveness and make it easy to receive and understand.  And yet, there’s such a depth to it that we can never fully reach all that it brings into our lives.  And so the best thing that we can do is simply say, Thank you, God, in the name of your Son Jesus.  Amen.