Prayer in the Spirit Ephesians 6:10-20
August 30, 2009
Metairie
"Pray in the spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication... always persevere in supplication for all the saints. Pray for me also, that when I speak a message may be given to me to boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
Hey! What's going on; didn't we hear that text last week? Well, yes. What's with that? Is this a misprint? Well, no. Did pastor miss a beat? No, not on this account anyway.
I confess this text would not let go of me until I addressed these concluding sentences. Last week we focused on the "belt of truth". I think we could also do well to examine "the breastplate of righteousness", "the footwear of peace", "the shield of faith" and "the helmet of salvation" but then we'd be half way to Advent.
The letters attributed to Paul, except Galatians, where Paul is in extreme displeasure with the Galatians' behaviors, all enjoin the congregation to pray with their minister. I'll pray for you and you pray for me. And to pray for one another and "the saints'. Paul's letters typically begin and end with the injunction to prayer.
In the first chapter of Ephesians Paul prays that the congregation be "given a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that the eyes of your heart be enlightened. So that you may know what is the hope to which God has called you."
I will take that prayer and make it my own for the rest of my time as your interim minister. Ephesians 1:15-19. Four sentences. I will post them over my desk at home, over my desk in the pastor's study. Over my bed so I remember the prayer as I arise and drift off to sleep.
And I ask that you pray for me and make "supplications for all the saints" - pray for one another.
With the many exhortations to pray - the beginning and conclusion of Paul's many letters - why do we find it so difficult to keep our prayer lives rich and constant? What gets in the way of being active and persistent in prayer? I mean outside of worship on Sunday. What gets in the way?
Over the years I've heard (and personally experienced) three barriers to prayer. The first is: "I don't know how" or a variation on that - "I'm not good at prayer."
I confess to you that I am among these - or at least I was, in my early years, when I considered my Christian expression to be set in scholarship and activities of justice-making. I was young and good at school. Who doesn't like to do what they are good at? Then later I was presented with missions of mercy - a battered women's shelter and a sexual assault program to build. In my early years of ministry my Christian character was all about Bible study and practical action.
My prayer life was transformed when a colleague grabbed me by the shoulders and marched me off to a series of retreats called "The Pilgrimage". Not only was my prayer life transformed, but my approach to ministry shifted. Indeed my next call was to a Methodist Church where I was Minister of Spiritual Growth and Evangelism.
Within 3 years my self-concept was significantly changed. I credit the Holy Spirit and my friend, Nora, who saw something in me that I had never seen in myself.
Prayer is something that can be taught and learned and practiced (though some people are naturals) like golf or guitar playing. Not everyone will be a master, but everyone is capable and everyone can learn.
Worship itself every week offers opportunity to practice a diverse set of prayers. For instance the last lines of our Affirmation of Faith - "Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto You" is a prayer.
Prayer is always dialogue - a conversation with God. Sometimes we speak; better yet we listen.
What do we say in prayer? Annie LaMott, a Christian convert, says there are only 2 prayers - "Please, please, please" and "thank you, thank you, thank you." Every child knows the magic words - please and thank you.
The fancy words for these kinds of prayer are "supplication" and "gratitude". Most teachers of prayer will say that gratitude is the foundational prayer.
My point is - don't let your shyness or hesitancy about knowing how to pray become a block to your prayer life. Just start with please and thank you. Or start with "Help me to pray" or "Teach me to pray", as did the disciples.
Start with what you already know - pray the Lord's prayer or pray the Psalms, or just sentences of Psalms. Or a creed - pray with a statement of faith.
If the right words do not come, pray with the eyes of your heart. There was a time when my son's behavior was so terrifying to me that I could not find words to say. A wise teacher taught me to envision my son in a cloud of warmth and light of Christ every time that son came to mind.
Which comes to the second barrier to prayer, one that can be a great distraction - the notion that prayer does not work. "We all prayed that Holly would recover from breast cancer, but she died" a parishioner said. Or another said, "I've prayed thousands and thousands of times about my brother's addiction, but he is still not sober."
This variation of prayer block can become pernicious in some circles, where the one who prays is blamed for not praying effectively.
Prayers are not meant to manipulate God into getting the outcome you desire. If the goal of your prayer is to get your own way, you will be disappointed. If you think that a child dies in an accident because no one prayed properly or sufficiently, what kind of a God do you believe in?
So, if prayers do not get you the outcome YOU THINK is best, then is prayer useless? Of course not. Remember that Jesus prayed in the Garden that God remove the path of suffering and death. Then Jesus concludes, "Not my will but thy will be done."
This episode perfectly illustrates how prayer works - prayer moves one from self-absorption and self-deception that we tell God how things ought to go. Prayer moves us to the place where we recognize and accept that God's will be done. Jesus illustrates that phenomenal moment when the prayerful petitioner humbles the inner tyrant who thinks, "I know what is best here." That person is transformed into one who recognizes that God is our companion through the valley of the shadow of death, not our valet service.
Dag Hammerskold offered a prayer that expresses this transformed person of prayer -
For all that has been - thanks.
For all that will be - yes.
Prayer always works. Prayer always draws us closer in relationship with God and with those for whom we pray. In this regard I recommend praying for your enemies. This is not my good idea - nor is it some pietistic prattle.
If you want to experience prayer in full power, pray for your adversaries. Don't tell me you have no adversaries, everyone has them.
Pray with kindness and good will for the one who opposes you. On Friday I attended Sen. Vitter's town hall meeting on the topic of Congressional Health Care Proposals. It was a highly partisan crowd, encouraged to "boo" and "hiss" at the names of Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders. I submit to you that if these people would pray for our national government, especially those they despise, that the tenor of the debates would shift and perhaps a more reasonable health care bill would be promoted.
Of course, the reverse holds true. Those who decry the posters of Obama with a Hitler mustache would do well to pray for their opponents. Praying that God's will be done through those who appear to be your adversary.
Prayer makes a huge difference - it softens our hearts and opens our eyes to our neighbors. Please do not let questions about the effectiveness of prayer block your prayer life.
The third block that I hear is - "I don't have time" to develop my prayer life. Most of us feel a bit guilty to admit that our prayer life is thin, I know I do. I feel guilty that I should pray more; that I am letting myself and others and God down.
Now let's get ourselves straight on this - while God welcomes and enjoys our prayer lives, mostly we are depriving our own spirits when we fall away from prayer. And guilt is a notably poor motivator of healthy change. So if you are sensing guilt in regard to your prayer life, I invite you to let that go in our time of confession. Ask God to remove the guilt and replace it with gladness. And move directly to a prayer of gratitude - thank you, thank you, thank you.
Just thank God right here and now for what you see with your eyes. Look around - see a face, an object like the carvings over the table, the hymnal you sing with, the flowers. And let the words "thank you" move across your lips as you appreciate what you see, or even that you see.
There is a prayer practice for the person in a hurry. You could call it insta-prayer. In your car when you travel - use that as prayer time. Or play music you like to pray with... have a CD of Joan Slagle 's. Do you like gospel? or "The Messiah"? or Christmas carols? Belt out "Joy to the World" in the shower or "This Little Light of Mine" as you bake muffins. Just thread the strands of prayer into whatever activity you pursue. When you have a difficult task or a difficult boss at work pray "God's will be done".
Soon our Search Committee will be appointed and we can expect that a group of people of diverse opinions, experiences, education and diverse hope, worries, and loyalties will come together. I will urge them to be diligent in prayer for one another and their task. I will ask the congregation to pray faithfully for them. And that we pray for candidates seeking a call and other churches seeking a minister.
When we pray we are promised that the Holy Spirit, the very breath of God, prays through us and with us and for us.
Do not neglect to pray for one another and for the saints. And also for the minister, that she may boldly speak the mystery of the gospel, in season and out of season.
Let the people say, "Amen."
