Praying and working together

Pentecost 13 year C 07 Sermon Prayer 4
Three weeks ago we began a month long exploration of prayer…to discover what it means… to be in communion… with the Creator of the universe

We found out…
1. the only way we can know anything about God…is because God chooses to reveal himself to us…

we learned
2. our first reason to pray isn’t our need for God, but God’s invitation to us. And how right from the beginning…God’s been pursuing and inviting us to enjoy his presence …asking us to speak to him…
and listen to him… even delivering the invitation in person…at great cost…in Jesus… and then drawing us… deeper into communion with him… by his Holy Spirit.

We learned
3. we’re all beginners… and need to be taught how to pray. So at Jesus’ side we approach our Father and
4. we learn how to pray for God’s cause and ours in the Lord’s Prayer…

And last week we learned that
5. speaking is only half the story… in our relationship with God… and we learned how… through silent contemplation and praying the scriptures anyone can learn to listen for God…
and enjoy God’s presence.

Today… I want to explore yet another aspect of prayer – and that’s praying and working together in God’s cause – the relationship between our praying and our living.

The question… for those of us in Jesus’ school of prayer is… though we’ve prayed ‘Thy will be done’…
are we actually prepared…to harness our very lives…
to God’s will…no matter what the cost – as Jesus did.

We’re reminded … prayer isn’t a state of being…
but an active relationship. God invites us and we respond… and we’re changed. We’re strengthen and guided in the Way the Truth and the life… to carry out God will, and make His cause our own.
Wouldn’t you think it’s a contradiction in terms…
to pray with Jesus… without putting his teaching… into practise.

And we see in Jesus example… that in prayer gives us the energy for God’s service.

We move from the activity of prayer to the action of discipleship… When we live a life of prayer…
every thing we do… becomes an extension of our prayers…our whole life…
becomes a witness to God’s cause…

So if you want a good definition of mission …
that’s it: a life in witness to God’s cause. And to witness effectively … we have to understand the complexities of the mission field…don’t we?

A century ago… most Christians thought
the mission field was overseas… in the jungles of Africa…or among the poor in India. But today in secular New Zealand we know that’s not true.

In fact…when we’re humble and honest enough…
to admit it…we know our closest mission field…
our first mission field… is our own hearts…
and if our life is an extension of our prayers…
then we know the true ‘test of prayer’ is ‘are we more patient, more loving, more merciful, more compassionate humble, and faithful?’

It could be said… that another test of our progress in prayer…in the mission field of our own hearts…
Another test is our ability to endure suffering…

You see in Jesus school of prayer…
we learn communion with God…
is never about immunity from suffering…

We learn and that even in the midst of suffering…
we can find peace. We learn…God can work out his purposes of love… no matter what the circumstances.

We remember Paul’s advice to the Philippians.
‘Don’t worry about anything, but in everything… by prayer and thanksgiving… let your requests be made known to God. [] And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding… will guard your hearts and your minds… in the knowledge of Christ Jesus.’

And so having kindled the fire of prayer…
in the first mission field…which is our own hearts… we’re ready for the fire to break out and spread…
to our relationships with others.

And still within this… first mission field…
is the heart of the church…the corporate heart…of the Body of Christ… the gathered people of God…
the heart of the church… also needs to be
continually transformed and built up through prayer.

After Jesus ascension…in today’s reading…
did you notice… how ‘they all join together in constant prayer.’ as they wait… for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit…

Jesus told them to wait together for this help… because they wouldn’t be able to continue work in his name without it…in the service of God’s cause..

Why should we be any different?

God’s people… are invited to call on the name of God together. Not only as individuals…but together…
in prayer and sacrament. We come together to pray and to worship… at God’s invitation. And Jesus said…
I will build my church…

And all over the world… strong growing churches…
with effective witness to God’s cause…these churches are calling their people to times of corporate prayer…

They’ve learned that even in our diversity…
when we pray together… we’re drawn together…
in love and unity… in obedience to God’s cause.

One such church is London’s Holy Trinity Brompton the home of the Alpha Programme and the Marriage Course… that we run…In the conviction that times of praying together would strengthen and transform their church… Holy Trinity started modestly.

At first… those who responded…
only met to pray for half hour a week. Today…
as more and more of their people discover the…
deep rewards of praying together....
Holy Trinity has had to schedule more opportunities throughout the week. [pause]

This is truly a challenge for us here in the Upper Clutha...are we hearing and responding...
to God’s invitation ...to pray and to wait...
on the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit?

For the Church to be built and transformed...
into an effective vehicle of God’s blessing
for the world...

first the heart of the church must be transformed...
to conform more closely to the image of God...
before we can ask the world to change... we have allow ourselves to be changed... through prayer and sacrament... together...into a merciful, just and compassionate body of believers…and praying together…being in communion with God together … is a vital part of this.

Because we are invited to speak and to listen for God together. Most of the ‘you’ words…
written for the early church… are plural… you …together

We hear how the early church raised their voices together in prayer.
"Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, David:
who asked 'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? Why do the rulers of the earth gather together against God and…conspire against your holy servant Jesus

We hear how ‘After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. There were no needy persons among them.

In our church only a few respond eagerly…
to the invitation to pray together as God’s people…
Where is our trust in the companionship of Christ and the Holy Spirit if we are reluctant or shy or afraid to pray with other Christians?

It’s not so hard…remember kneeling beside the bed of a child… to help them with their prayers? Or how easily you speak the Lord’s Prayer in worship…
my friends that is corporate prayer…
its simply gathering with others in the family of God… for the purpose of prayer…
out loud or silent… but together.

During my study leave on prayer I became convinced that we haven’t yet heard God’s invitation…
to pray together as a church. That’s why I’m going to set aside half an hour every Wednesday afternoon at 530… to meet with anyone else who feels the call to corporate prayer.

Today we’ve see that only with our own hearts transformed in the first mission field….
can we sincerely pray… for our work together in the second mission field…

located anywhere that hearts are turned away from God and God’s cause…of reconciling and restoring all creation

My prayer... is that in praying together... our church will be encouraged to go out into the second mission field... to say a joyful yes to every sign of God’s life and love... and that we’ll be strengthened to say a forceful ‘no’
to every principality and power that brings division and destruction – to our families, our community and the world.

You see... mission – in witness to God’s cause…
is simply another way to pray… with our whole being…
and is the true work of the children of God.

So lets respond together to God’s invitation to communion…
so that in Jesus’ name… we can build a community of healing and wholeness …a touching place for everyone… where forgiveness and grace abound.

Listening to God in prayer

Pentecost 12 year C Sermon Prayer 3
Photo credit Professor Dr. Graham Hill
Let the teaching of Christ and His words… keep on living in you. And of course part of Jesus teaching is how to pray. Two weeks ago we began a month long exploration of prayer…to discover what it means…

to be in communion… with the Creator of the universe: to be in relationship with God.
We learned that before we can even begin to answer why God wants us to pray… we have to ask…
how is it… we know anything about God anyway?

And we found out… the only way we can know anything about God…is because God chooses to reveal himself to us…we learned our first reason to pray isn’t our need for God, but God’s invitation to us.

‘When you seek me you shall find me – if you search with all your heart. If you pray to me I will listen to you.’

Right from the beginning…God’s been relentless… in pursuing us and inviting us to enjoy his presence …asking us to speak to him…and listen to him… even delivering the invitation in person…
at great cost…in Jesus…

And continuing to draw us… into communion with him… by his Holy Spirit.

Last week we realised.... like the first disciples... that in Jesus’ school of prayer we’re all beginners… and need to be taught how to pray. So we learn…
from the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer… we discover that in Jesus’ prayer…there are no empty words...and we never pray alone…because we pray at Jesus side… as we approach Our Father.

And though we often think of prayer as…
our words expressed to God…it’s important to remember that our speaking is only half the story in our relationship with God… communion with God isn’t just a monologue…

So today I want to explore with you…how…
in spite of our doubts and our scepticism and even our fears…there are ways…
that everyone can learn… to listen for God…
and to God…and enjoy God’s presence.

One way is in
Contemplative Prayer…where we become quiet …and move from communicating to God…
into a receptive prayer… of resting in God.
In doing this we prepare ourselves to become aware…of the gift of God's presence. And we consent and surrender to God being with us and in us.

In contemplative prayer…attending to God in an attitude of love… overcomes words…
and we become silent.

Throughout the Bible, ‘those who are privileged to be God’s hearers’… separate themselves from the noise and distractions of life… and seek out solitude and quiet. We remember how Jesus took himself away to a quiet place to pray…to attend to God in love.

When we learn to pray wordlessly… loving God and receiving God’s love…it’s easier to quieten our hearts and our minds. I’d say from my own experience … the more quiet the mind… the deeper our communion with God can be… and the more likely we are to hear what God wants to say to us… or see what God wants to show us.

Another way to say this… is that God is present
and broadcasting; but are we tuned in to God’s wavelength…and are our lives quiet enough…
for us to hear?

When you finish your spoken prayers…
one way to calm your mind… and make yourself completely receptive to God… is to imagine a lovely cloud… between you…and all your concerns anxieties …and pre-occupations… even between you and all those you love and pray for…

the ancient Christian mystics call this
‘a cloud of forgetting’.

In imagining this you’re preparing yourself…
to be on your own in the presence of God.

All you do next is wait and
offer your love to God and try to stay in that love.

It’s my experience over twenty years of practising …
that this way of praying takes time and commitment...
but the rewards are beyond words.

And though this kind of prayer isn’t for everyone…
there is another way… to listen for …and to God…
a way that’s possible for any one. It’s called praying the scriptures or Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina, is the Latin term for divine reading... spiritual reading, or holy reading. It’s a way of praying that calls us to read and listen to what God may be saying to us...through his Word in Scripture.

And since the only way we can know anything about God at all… is because God chooses to reveal himself to us…we trust God’s self revelation is alive and breathing… through his Word…
as actively today as ever.

In praying with Scripture we discover…
that once we enter it’s force field… instead of our using the Bible to evaluate God…we are the ones who are taken hold of and evaluated. [pause]

The same words people have listened to for centuries … words that have encouraged and convicted and reshaped the lives of millions…words we’ve heard in church a thousand times or words we’ve ignored ... these same words when we pray with Scripture…
are fresh every time.

Many people who fear silence or doubt they’ll ever
hear the voice of God or believe if they did
they’d be labelled insane…
discoverthrough praying the scriptures…
an indispensable way… to hear the still small voice of God… [pause]

Every second Sunday of the month at Night Church, we enjoy this way of praying. Our inspiration for ‘What’s the Word’…. comes from the belief…
that the word of God can be a searchlight…
into our hearts and minds. We find that when we allow the word of God to drift lovingly over our preoccupations…
when we don’t shield any part of ourselves from the words, we begin to develop an attitude of expectation and a willingness to listen for God.

So let’s try it. First let us pray. Beloved God help us to open our hearts our minds and our spirits…
for a word from you. In Jesus name. AMEN.

Now listen as I read [Read text out loud]

Hebrews 12, 1-4
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Now read it over to yourself… slowly …and if you’re struck by a word or a phrase that has meaning for you, you don’t need to hurry to finish the passage. You can just dwell on any word or phrase as long as you want to, allowing yourself to taste it and savour it, and enter more deeply into whatever it stirs within you. You can make notes if you want to.

I’m just going to give us five minutes to sit with these words. But at home you can take as long as you like.
Five minutes

in the knowledge God reveals himself ultimately
in Jesus… we must always test what we think God may be saying to us… for consistency with Jesus’ teaching and action.

In Jesus God’s word… his only-begotten Son…
Was sent into the world… to bring it home,
to bring it back to him… which is why God said…
“This is my beloved Son: listen to him”

The great Catholic theologian…Von Balthasar reminds us… ‘When we’re in danger of drowning… God’s word is the rope ladder thrown down to us… so we can climb up into the rescue boat. It’s the carpet rolled out to us … so we can walk along it to the Father’s presence. It’s the lantern which shines in the darkness encouraging us to keep going and casting a soft light on the riddles that torment us.

All our protests and excuses aside… our ability to ‘listen to God’s word for us…
goes as deep as our existence…
because God created us to hear his invitation.
My prayer is that we are listening and will respond.

How does God want us to pray

Pentecost 11 year C Sermon Prayer 2 How
Last week we began to explore what it means…
to be in communion… with the Creator of the universe. To be in relationship with God.

We learned that before we can even begin to answer why God wants us to pray… we have to ask… how is it… we know anything about God anyway?

And we found out… the only way we can
know anything about God…is because God chooses to reveal himself to us…in our own experience…
and equally… as God breathes meaning to us through his Word in Scripture.

‘When you seek me you shall find me – if you search with all your heart. If you pray to me I will listen to you. I know the plans I have in mind for you – plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you. If you pray to me I will listen to you.’

And in history…when God’s word through the prophets was ignored… God made his word…his self revelation… flesh…incarnate… in Jesus the Word made flesh.
And so we see that right from the beginning… God’s been inviting us to enjoy his presence…to talk with him…to walk with him in the garden…whether it’s Eden Gethsemane…or Wanaka.

And then suddenly we know the answer to the question…
why should we pray? We pray…
because God invites us to pray…and the invitation…
has been delivered in person…at great cost…and is reinforced in our hearts… by the Holy Spirit. [pause]

And so in prayer and in faith –not in open sight –
you and I…are drawn into communion with the Father, by the Son…in the power of the Holy Spirit – and we share in the divine life of God.

And the amazing thing is… when we respond to God’s invitation...when we turn our face toward the one at whose command the stars and the galaxies came into being... the amazing and wonderful thing is...we aren’t burned up and consumed... [pause..............]

We’re invited to speak...In fact…we are required to speak as though to a loving parent... in words.
And Jesus first disciples… were as clumsy and inarticulate with their prayers… as we are. When it comes to prayer…we’re all beginners… So Jesus friends beg him to teach them how to pray.

And because God knows us through and through…
knows our reluctance, our laziness, our shyness… and because God knows we need to connect with him a lot more often than we can find the right words…well…
our Lord teaches us and gives us his prayer… Jesus …who ‘talks to the Creator of the Universe as naturally, as intimately… and with the same sense of security…
as a beloved child talks to a loving father.’

Now some people don’t like set prayers… some people think the only proper way to pray… is spontaneously.
But in the prayer Jesus teaches us to pray…there are no empty words...and we never pray alone…

Why? Because as we speak these word’s…
we approach the Creator of the Universe…
at the side of the Master… who taught us to pray.

Our Father in heaven
In this prayer…God…
who is revealed in Jesus and through him…
invites us to call upon him… as our Father…

In Jesus’ school of prayer… we learn the key to all prayer… we learn our first and highest lesson…is to say Abba, Father
And in the knowledge of God as loving parent…revealed by the Holy Spirit…the power of prayer… takes root and grows.

Only at the side of Jesus our brother can we come into communion with ‘our’ Father. Only with Jesus as our compass and our guide… do we learn that we are all
God’s children.

The ‘our’ the ‘we’ the ‘us’… in the Lord’s Prayer… makes our praying different ‘from any so called private religious action.’…because ‘We’… are ‘those with Jesus of Nazareth…those who follow Him because He calls us and claims us…and wonder of wonders…
we are those He’s summoned to pray with Him…

And not only do we pray with everyone else in communion with Jesus…we pray in hope with all those people who don’t know they’re God’s children yet….
We pray in community that’s ‘close knit…but open to all…

Hallowed be your Name
Together with Jesus leading us we respond with worship. We speak out… our desire and adoration…along with the belief… that there is only one Name worthy of our worship and faithfulness. We express allegiance to God … over and against all created powers and self-exalted principalities.

To say this at Jesus side is as politically and socially subversive today…as it was during the reign of the Caesar’s or the rule of the Sadducees in the Temple.

Your kingdom come
This isn’t just any sort of asking, but asking addressed to God at His command. Why does Jesus want us to ask this?

Because today as in the first century…the salvation of the world depends on it. In Jesus prayer we not only join in communion with the creator of the universe…we join in a subversive political and social declaration – that God’s will be done…over and against every power… that separates humanity from God and from each other …
every condition that prevents peace and justice. Every ruler…whether Caesar or President or Chairman of the board.

And in prayer with Jesus… we concede ‘we’re not building the kingdom of God on earth all by ourselves… and that the most we can do…
is to make as much room as possible… in ourselves… and in the world… for God’s energies to go to work’.

Your will be done
Here we confess our faith in the perfect will of God…
And we surrender…gladly …all other allegiances and desires… especially to our own will.
two hundred years ago Scottish theologian Andrew Murray wrote. ‘ ‘As God’s will is done, the kingdom of heaven comes into the heart. And wherever faith accepts the Father's love … obedience accepts the Father's will.’

This is the spirit of child like prayer. God’s will is to have the first and the last word at every point. What we ask out loud for here… is the will to submit our will to God’s.

We’re free to choose God’s will over our own. Remember Jesus words the night he was betrayed..."Father, if you’re willing, take this cup from me… yet not my will,
but yours be done."

on earth
This prayer…this petition is universal’ ...no one is excluded…no thing is excluded…as we express with Jesus…our longing… for God’s will to prevail in all creation and our willingness to follow Jesus as he seeks to reconcile the differences…between God’s will…
and the realities of human affairs.

In the same Sermon on the Mount
where he teaches us how to pray…Jesus also teaches us how to live…so God’s will can be done on earth…

as it is in heaven
In Jesus’ school of prayer…the contrast between heaven and earth… is important …spiritually and politically

When we pray this prayer… we’re confessing our trust…
in the absolute authority of God… and we’re rejecting the idea of some uncreated realm…where powers of good and evil are at war… and where the ultimate victory of God’s love… is somehow in doubt.

We reject that… and instead confess our belief… that God has revealed his heavenly mystery… in Jesus.
“If you have seen me you have seen the Father’.

Jesus … brings and is… heaven on earth…around Jesus the kingdom of God is at hand…if you’re following Jesus’ teaching… God’s cause is working in the world…
the sermon on the mount is being lived out… compassion and mercy and justice are happening…and the powers of greed and death are being defeated… by love.

As we pray with Jesus…we learn how God’s cause of restoring all creation…is to shape not only our prayer… but our life… and give it meaning… God wants us…
to make his cause… our own… before we make our petitions…
for daily bread, forgiveness or deliverance from evil.

Give us this day our daily bread
Having been invited to participate in God’s cause, we now invite God to participate in our cause.
The Lord’s Prayer ensures we’re not… so gripped with a false sense of our insignificance…
that we hesitate to bother God. Jesus teaches us that we may and should ask…fearlessly.

And in asking…we declare our dependence
on God’s providence…and humbly accept… that there are areas of our lives … beyond our control.

Forgive us our sins
I like this quote from Henri Nouwen
‘A human being isn’t someone who once in a while makes a mistake and God isn’t someone who now and then forgives. No - human beings are sinners and God is love.’

And so in the knowledge that we pray with Christ and having the assurance that we are heard by the Father, we ask to be forgiven for our sins, for the times we’ve turned away from the face of God, the times we’ve been off target, when we haven’t loved God or others as God loves us – whether we were aware of it or not.

Jesus has enough experience of the human condition to know we need to regularly repent of our refusal to love…
And so in his prayer… we face judgment and grace.

Later Jesus cry from the Cross...would show just how far God is prepared to go... to forgive. We hear in Jesus words the awesome truth of divine mercy. ‘Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.’

As we forgive those who sin against us
At Jesus side we pray to model our forgiveness on his.

Guide us so we wont fall into temptation
Here we express our faith… that if our hearts and minds and spirits are open to God’s guidance…which is always there for us… we’ll be able to recognise and resist temptation.

But deliver us from evil
And finally we express our faith… that were we to fall … God will deliver us if we ask him to.

St Theresa of Avila tells the story of a senior nun…who complained she couldn’t pray. On interrogation Theresa found that the nun’s trouble… was that it took her a long time to say the Lord’s Prayer. Each phrase occupied her for so long that hours would pass before she could finish.

Theresa decided the nun was actually very gifted at prayer.

It is my experience that lingering in the Lord’s Prayer is nourishing for my spirit and my relationship with God.
I hope you too will find… that with Jesus in the school of prayer…God is revealed as the God of comfort and the Father of mercies. Jesus doesn’t tell us his prayer the only possible way to pray, but in worship and private it’s unwise to try to break free from its authority and service.

With Jesus and with our brothers and sisters in Christ let us pray it together now.

Why pray?

Pentecost 10 year C Sermon Prayer 1 The Invitation
Jer 29 Matthew 7:8

Why bother to knock on God’s door – doesn’t God already know we’re standing out there... doesn’t God already know what we’re thinking and what we want?

and if that’s true... is prayer just a waste of God’s time...and maybe even ours?

Ever asked yourself questions like that?

Like what’s the point of praying...
Like is there a right way to pray ...is there a wrong way?

Or why are some people content...just to sit with God in silence... while others sound like they’re yelling at God...getting louder and louder...

Does God listen to everybody’s prayers – even unbelievers? Is there something different about Christian prayer? Why does God seem to answer some prayers and not others?

What does God really want us to do... and how do we find out? How do we know?

Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? Clap if you’ve never had any questions about prayer. See how common it is? You’re not alone.
Ok Just buzz a minute with the person next to you... about some of the questions you’ve had.

[buzz]

Were there any questions I didn’t mention before?

I’m one of those who can sit happily in silence in the presence of God and I do...maybe forty five minutes a day – with few words...and a lot of listening and loving. A year ago I started wondering… about why God wants us to pray and how does God want us to pray.

I needed some words to talk about prayer and not just a about how I happen to pray. Some of you have a rich prayer life some feel dry and reluctant to bother God.

And out there, we’re constantly rubbing shoulders with people who never pray. What can we say to them if they asked us why we pray or what’s the right way to pray?

Some people join our Christian community in search of fellowship and hoping to find God but without any background in the Christian faith. Others to whom we minister in our outreach programmes are searching for God in all kinds of places.

On the other hand, I hear Christian’s praying for some display of God’s power… for signs and wonders …people trying to live without the necessity of faith or the surrender of their own will to God’s.

I needed words to talk about prayer… I needed tools…a compass and a light… to help me find answers to my questions about prayer…and yours…
so you and I don’t get lost in some weird religious maze or worse give up praying because... we didn’t know.

So a year ago I decided I’d make prayer the topic of my study leave…and for a whole year these questions worked away on me… and on my own understanding of prayer.

What treasures I’ve found. In the last month…I’ve written over sixteen thousand words on prayer…and the best part is that early on I realised there is indeed.. a bright light and sure compass to show us the way…

And I discovered… the fundamental question… lying behind all our wondering about prayer…
isn’t why or how or what to pray…but

‘what does it mean…to be in communion with the Creator of the universe?’ to be in relationship with God?’ [pause]

Today I want to give us some words to answer the why question …why knock at the door…why pray at all. Next week we’ll look at how…God wants us to pray and the Sunday after that we’ll examine the relationship between our prayers and how we live as Christians. Why praying together is important for our church.

On the fourth Sunday we’ll talk about difficulties with prayer… about reluctance and dryness and doubt and despair. About the times when God doesn’t seem to be there at all.

But today the question is why. And before we can even begin to answer why God wants us to pray… we have to ask…

how is it… we can know anything about God?

And the answer is… because God chooses to reveal himself to us…God has spoken and God speaks to us…in many ways…yes… through the beauty of creation… and through the words of the prophets like Jeremiah …did you notice…

‘When you seek me you shall find me – if you search with all your heart. If you pray to me I will listen to you. I know the plans I have in mind for you – plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you. If you pray to me I will listen to you.’

But people ignored the words of the prophets …didn’t they?
so God chose to make his word…his self revelation… flesh…incarnate… in Jesus.

Right from the beginning God has been inviting us to enjoy his presence to communicate with him – to join him in intimate communion … And suddenly we know the answer to the question why pray?

We pray because God invites us to pray… and the amazing thing is…we’re free not to free to reject the invitation…so when we do pray our prayer our free response… to God’s desire… to be in relationship with us.

The great theologian Karl Barth puts it this way,
slide words
God ‘doesn’t will to be God without us. He calls us to His side. He summons us to make His purposes and aims the object of our own desire.’ [pause]

We pray because God invites us to pray. And in response we say without reservation
“I am human and you are God.”

So prayer isn’t a state we’re in its… an action we take …and at that moment when we turn toward God in free and glad obedience…conversion occurs …
and the relationship desired by our Creator is restored.
I don’t know about you… but I find it strangely comforting… to know that I pray out of obedience to God’s will and command. It takes the pressure off…it removes from me any question of whether I’m bothering God or important enough…

God sent in Jesus an invitation to communion with the living God, “bodily” present with and for us…and we respond bodily. God has spoken…and the message… the good news has been delivered in person… in Jesus Christ.

And as Jesus promised we are enabled to join in communion with God…by the faith poured into our hearts by God’s own Spirit.

This Trinitarian understanding sets Christian prayer apart from other forms of prayer. In faith – and not in open sight – we’re drawn into… communion with the Father by the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit.

In Jesus ‘Prayer is made what it ought to be… by the very God to whom we pray…through Jesus… God’s grace enables us to look toward him through the eyes of faith
and cry Abba - Father

That’s why Paul says
‘He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will’. [pause]

And so we begin to understand that ‘To pray is actually to share in the Divine Life’

‘Whatever could we say to God if God himself hadn’t taken the first step in communicating and manifesting himself to us…and next week we’ll discover how we are taught what to say and how to pray by the Son of God.

And so with Jesus as our compass and our guide…
you and I can discover and help others to discover what it means to be in communion... with the creator of the universe.

We are no longer blind and deaf to God’s invitation. We have the courage... not only to knock but to enter... we have the courage and freedom to speak out loud and ears of faith to listen...to the one who loved us first...the one at whose command... the stars and the galaxies came into being.

My prayer is that each one of us will respond to God’s invitation with all our hearts, with all our strength, and all our minds.