Sermon: Find a Place for Prayer

The Rev. Jennifer Whipple
Congregational Church of Brookfield (UCC)

Third Sunday in Lent
March 27, 2011

Matthew 6:5-18

“Find a Place for Prayer”

 Prayer: May the words of my mouth and the reflections of our minds and hearts gathered here this morning be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, you who are our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.

 ...  A minister dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates. Ahead of him is a guy who's dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.
Saint Peter addresses this guy, "Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven ?"
The guy replies, "I'm Joe Cohen, taxi driver, of Noo Yawk City ."
Saint Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi driver, "Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven ."
The taxi driver goes into Heaven with his beautiful robe and staff, and it's the minister's turn. He stands up proud and tall and booms out, "I am Joseph Snow, pastor of
Saint Mary's for the last forty-three years."
Saint Peter consults his list and then says to the minister, "Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven ."
"Just a minute," says the minister. "That man was a taxi driver and he gets a silken robe and golden staff, and I get these. How can this be?"
"Up here, we work by results," says Saint Peter. "While you preached, people slept; while he drove, people prayed."

When I think about the places for prayer in my life, I can tell you firsthand that more than a few prayers have been said in the back of taxi cabs!  It’s amazing when prayer tends to crop up in our lives, but when we feel like our lives are at risk, that is certainly one of the times it tends to come to the forefront!

As we continue on in our Lenten Journey, it is fitting that we come to this particular scripture passage.  Lent is one of the seasons during the church year when we are asked to take a little more time to build our relationship with God, to walk a little bit more closely with “Our Father, who art in heaven.”  And this year it seems that every time we turn around there are more and more reasons to pray. Just turn on the news and there are reports of radioactivity soaring in Japanese waters, conflicts escalating in Libya and around the world, not to mention the petitions that are close to our own hearts- whether we are fearful for our lives or the lives of a family member or friend who is ill, whether we are worried for a friend who is in the hospital or someone who is unemployed– these are the very present concerns in our lives – the reasons why we turn to God.  And even as we mention all of these, we do take the opportunity to turn our hearts to God when joy breaks in to our lives, when we have those moments when we feel God’s presence, when we know love, when we have something to celebrate.  When these moments come up we feel like offering our thanks and praise.  In the few brief words that Jesus shares with those who gathered during the Sermon on the Mount, all of these reasons – all of these intentions for prayer are covered.  Let’s take a quick look…

Here’s Jesus, in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, helping his followers understand what proper piety is-what it is to be holy.  He speaks first of almsgiving – of sharing a portion of what one has back to God for God’s work to be done.  He speaks last of fasting – of working to control one’s body and run on necessities instead of all of the extras that we tend to fill ourselves up with.  But in the middle of these two relatively short bits of instruction, Jesus explains in some length the when, where, and how of praying – of working to build up our relationship with God, of sharing the innermost part of who we are with the One from whom we have our life and breath.

Now we can imagine the disciples were struggling then, just as we perhaps are today, to find a place for prayer in their lives and on the journey they shared together.  After all, if they were faithful Jews they had heard of their ancestors before who were approached by God - who had conversations with God in secluded tents or on the tops of mountains.  They watched Jesus escape every now and again to a secluded place to pray.  But even when Jesus did that, when he withdrew, they were often left to face the crowds of people who searched for him to heal them, to forgive and save them.  So, I can imagine the disciples leaning in as Jesus began to speak about prayer, suddenly interested in the topic at hand.  And what Jesus said to them was very simple – (1) pray with the right intention, not to show off to anyone else but to worship and build up your relationship with God and to care for one another, and (2) any words will do, as God already knows what you need before you ask, but here is an example of some that you might use if you are at a loss. 

The words Jesus gave them have been historically traced back to some of the earliest prayers used in the synagogues – the Kaddish and the 18 Benedictions.  But with his own additions, Jesus offered up thanks and praise to God (Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed or Holy be your name).  He offered up petitions for the world (Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven) and petitions for himself and those with him (Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.).  And he asked for God’s guidance to keep on the right path (And do not bring us to the time of trial.  But rescue us from the evil one).  Sounds like a pretty good format to follow, and it only takes a few seconds! 

So what’s the big deal then?  Why preach an entire sermon on finding a place for prayer. 

The two answers I usually get from people when I ask them about their prayer life or the way they pray are usually (1) I never know what to say, and (2) I don’t have the time to pray an hour  a day like you must.

Well, for some prayer comes as easily as breathing.  For others it seems painstaking.  For some the words just seem to flow.  For others forming a sentence in prayer is like pulling teeth.  For some prayer happens anywhere.  For others only in the confines of a particular place and time.  And if I am to be honest with you prayer for me tends to look a lot like the latter, more difficult options in what I just described. 

But to find a place for prayer in our lives means a few things.  First, it means quite literally to find the right place to pray.  In Jesus’ instructions he didn’t mean literally to lock yourself in your bedroom closet, but rather that we don’t try to look pious as we pray.  Those who pray only so others will notice them get what they want – to be noticed – Jesus says. 

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly finding a place for prayer is finding a place in our everyday, crowded, busy, toughened up lives for prayer.  Whether it is a minute or an hour, finding a place in our lives requires hearts turned toward God, requires noble intentions, and requires that we acknowledge that we don’t go it alone in this world, nor should we.

For all, though, the truth is that the place for prayer is in the heart.  And it requires that we open ourselves up and allow ourselves to be vulnerable enough to allow God in…and to acknowledge what needs prayer in our lives – whether it is for us directly or for others or for the world around us.  And admittedly, that is not so easy in our “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, “never let them see you sweat”, “big girls…and certainly boys don’t cry” kind of society.  But I suppose, with the challenges offered us, that begs the question, what is prayer to begin with?

Challenged with a little preacher’s block this past week, I asked Brayden, my almost 3-year-old son, what prayer was.  Now, mind you we have never really talked about prayer.  We have “night night words”, as I call them, but the word prayer hasn’t ever really come up.  So, it was an experiment of sorts when I said to him, “Brayden, what is mommy going to tell people on Sunday morning?  What do you think prayer is?”  A big smile came across his face and he said, “Singing, Mommy.  Singing is praying.”  And after a little bit of a pause he continued, “Playing.  Playing is praying too.”  From the mouths of babes!  And once again I realized how true the statement, “God works in mysterious ways” is.  Because earlier that same day I had been reading the reflection*** of a lecturer at the Iliff School of Theology, Rev. Jane Vennard, whose own statement about prayer hit home with me.  She wrote, “I define prayer as any activity that nurtures our relationship with God.”  Helping someone carry their groceries, pushing a child on a swing, listening to a friend, curling up with a cup of tea to watch the sunset, singing a tune, or sharing the actual words of the intentions of our hearts – all of these can be prayer if we seek God in them and through them – if we acknowledge God’s presence there with us.  The every day ordinary things of our lives can be prayerful if our hearts and minds, our intentions and attention, are in the right place.    

My favorite definition of prayer is that prayer is a conversation with God – whether verbal or nonverbal.  And if prayer is a conversation with God then we need to answer when God calls.  Instead of looking at the caller ID and sending the call on to voicemail, we need to step up to the plate, open ourselves up, and answer.  We need to realize the truth in the words of the hymn we just sang…prayer for prayer’s sake doesn’t cut it.  It’s not an obligation or a chore.  It is a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.  We just need to find that place for prayer along the journey we share.

It says in our bulletin each Sunday morning, “We are a praying church.”  That might seem silly – the fact that it’s in writing as such.  After all we pray together each and every Sunday morning, during committee meetings, during pastoral care conversations with each other, at choir practices, and so on and so forth.  So why should it come as a surprise to see those words in the bulletin?  However, even in the 5 ½ years I have been a part of this Church Family I have seen those words come alive more.  They aren’t just words on a piece of paper that goes into the recycling bin.  We have people who share names in prayer on Sunday mornings, names of those who are nearest and dearest to them who need something extra to help them get through another day.  It’s wonderful as a pastor to watch what happens next.  Someone, whether they know the person who raised the prayer or not, will turn to that pray-er after service and ask them about who the person they prayed for is and if it’s okay to keep that person in individual prayers throughout the week.  Because, you see, through our sharing – caring increases.  Our relationships in this place are strengthened.  And all because our relationship with God has been strengthened. 

We don’t need beautiful words…or many of them for that matter.  We just need hearts turned toward God and honorable intentions.  We just need to open ourselves up for a moment to the amazing ways that God can work in our lives and through our prayers – to a tiny glimmer of hope in an otherwise bleak and broken world.  We just need to follow the example of God’s example to us – of Jesus Christ who gave his disciples some pointers based in his own faith tradition that have lasted for us to this day.

In one translation of today’s scripture passage Jesus says:

Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

 ^7-13"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.

My friends, the time, the place, the words don’t matter.  Our relationship grows with God and with others the moment we find a place for prayer.  Let it be so.  Amen.

***This is a great reflection on prayer by Jane Vennard.  It is called “Exploring a Life of Prayer” and can be found at http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=296.