LUKE 11:1-13

1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

3 Give us each day our daily bread,

4 and forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation.”

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,

6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?

8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;

12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

It’s been said that there are no atheists in foxholes.  In other words when life is scary and a little overwhelming even an atheist wants a God who will be there to help you.  Consider if you will the atheist over in Scotland who was rowing his boat across a lake when all of a sudden the Loch Ness monster appeared out of nowhere and attacked the boat.  With one giant swing of its tail the monster sent the boat and the atheist flying up into the air.  If that wasn’t bad enough when the atheist looked down he saw the monster waiting for him with its mouth wide open.  Immediately the atheist cried out in despair.  “Oh God, help me…please, please help me!” No sooner were the words out of his mouth when a voice from the heavens thundered, “I thought you didn’t believe in me.”  Undeterred the atheist cried out, “Oh come on God.  Give me a break.  Two minutes ago I also didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster.”

Just about everyone will say a prayer when life gets to be a little scary and overwhelming.   That’s why the request that the disciples brought to Jesus that day is just as relevant for us today as it was for them back then.

They went to Jesus and said, “Lord teach us how to pray.”

They asked Jesus to do that after they saw him off praying by himself. They probably figured that if anyone had a shortcut or a secret shortcut when it came to making a connection with God it would be God’s only begotten Son.

So the disciples went to Jesus and said, “Lord teach us how to pray” and when Jesus hears that what does he do?  He begins by giving them an ancient version of the Lord’s Prayer but then he goes on to talk about friends who come banging on your door in the middle or the night.  He talks about fathers who understand that when a child asks you for a loaf of bread you don’t give him a scorpion or serpent.   Jesus then ends with these words of wisdom.  He says, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

What Jesus is getting at here is simple.  Friends, fathers, children, heavenly Father…As far as Jesus is concerned prayer is all about your relationship with God.  It’s all about creating and deepening your relationship with God and that’s what you need when life is scary and a little overwhelming.

You need that relationship with God when your company is downsizing and you know that you’re going to loose your job.  You need that relationship with God when you’re son is making all kinds of bad decisions and his life is beginning to spiral out of control.  You need that relationship with God when the doctor sits you down and says, “I’m sorry, but I’ve got some bad news for you.”

Here’s the thing though.   When you pray it doesn’t necessarily mean that God is going to make the problem go away by changing the world around you.  It doesn’t necessarily mean that God is going to make your life easier by changing the people who are keeping you awake at night with a mountain of worry.  What it means is that when you pray God is going to change you.

A man found that out one day when he bowed his head and began to pray.

"Our Father who art in heaven.”

“Yes?”

“Don't interrupt me. I'm praying.”

“But you called Me."

“Called you? I didn't call you. I'm praying. Our Father who art in heaven.”

“There, you did it again.”

“Did what?”

“Called on Me. You said, Our Father who art in heaven. Well, here I am.”

“But I didn't mean anything by it. I was, you know, just saying my prayers for the day. I always say the Lord's Prayer. It makes me feel good, kind of like doing my duty.”

“All right. Go on.”

“Hallowed be thy name.....”

“Hold it. What do you mean by that?”

“By what?”

“By 'hallowed be thy name'?”

“It means, it means... I don't know what it means. How should I know? It's just a part of the prayer. By the way, what does it mean?”

"”It means Holy, Honored, Wonderful.”

“Hey, that makes sense. I never thought about what 'hallowed' meant before. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Sure, why not?”

“What are you doing about it?”

“Doing? Well, nothing, I guess. I just think it would be kind of neat if you got control of everything down here like you have up there.”

“Have I got control of you?”

“Well, I go to church. “

“That isn't what I asked you. What about your bad temper? You've really got a problem there, you know. And what about all those scratch tickets that you buy?”

“Hey! I'm just as good as some of the rest of those people at the church.:

“I thought you were praying for my will to be done. If that’s going to happen, it will have to start with the ones who are praying for it. Like you, for example.”

“Oh, all right. I guess I do have some hang-ups. Now that you mention it, I could probably name some others.”

“Okay. I'm listening ... go on.”

“I haven't thought about it very much until now, but I’d really would like to stop trying to impress people with the house that I live in and the car that I drive and the clothes that I wear.   I guess when you come down to it I want to do that so I can, you know, really be free.”

“Good. We can work together on that. I'm proud of you."

“Look, Lord, I really need to finish up here. This is taking a lot longer than it usually does. Give us this day, our daily bread.”

“You know you really need to cut out the carbohydrates. You're overweight as it is.”

“Hey, wait a minute! Here I was doing my religious duty, and all of a sudden you break in and remind me of all my hang-ups.”

“Praying is a dangerous thing. You could wind up changed, you know. That's what I'm trying to get across to you. You called me, and here I am. It's too late to stop now. Keep praying. I'm interested in the next part of your prayer.”

...(pause)...

“Well, go on.”

“I'm scared to.”

“Scared of what?”

“I know what you'll say.”

“Try me and see.”

“Okay. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.”

“Okay, since you asked, I’ll forgive all your sins but…What about Ann?”

“See? I knew it! I knew you would bring her up! I’m sorry Lord, but she's told lies about me, spread stories about my family. She never paid back the money she owes me and I've taken a vow to get even with her!”

“What about your prayer?”

“I didn't mean it.”

“Well, at least you're honest. But it's not much fun carrying that load of bitterness around inside, is it?”

“No. But I'll feel better as soon as I get even. Boy, have I got some plans for her. She'll wish she and I had never met.”

“You won't feel any better. You'll feel worse. Revenge isn't sweet. Think of how unhappy you already are. But I can change all that.”

“You can? How?”

“Forgive Ann. Then I'll forgive you. Then the hate and sin will be Ann's problem and not yours. Your heart will be at peace again.”

“ I know. You're right. You always are. And I guess that even more than getting revenge on Ann, what I really want is to be right with you...

... (pause) ... <sigh>

“All right. All right. I forgive her. Help her to find the right road in life, Lord. She's bound to be awfully miserable now that I think about it. Anybody who goes around doing the things she does to others has to be out of it. Someway, somehow, show her the right way.”

“There now! Wonderful! How do you feel?”

“Hmmmmmm.  Not bad, actually. Not bad at all. In fact, I feel pretty good! You know, I don't think I'll have to go to bed uptight tonight for the first time since I can remember. And, maybe I won't be so tired from now on because I'm not getting enough rest.”

“You're not through with your prayer. Go on.”

"All right. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

“Good! Good! I'll do that. Just don't put yourself in a place where you can be tempted.”

“What do you mean by that?”

"Okay….here’s one.  Don't go down the junk food aisle in the supermarket if you really want to loose weight.  And you should really pay attention to the people you socialize with when you go out for the evening….if you can't influence the conversation to positive things, perhaps you should re-think the value of those friendships. Another thing, your neighbors and friends shouldn't be your standard for 'keeping up'. And please...don't use me only for an escape hatch.”

“I’m sorry Lord but I don’t understand the last part.”

“Sure you do. You've done it lots of times. You get caught in a bad situation. You get into trouble and then you come running to me, 'Lord, help me out of this mess, and I promise you I'll never do it again.' You remember some of those bargains you tried to make with me?”

“Yes, you’re right Lord. I’m really sorry about that.”

“Which bargain are you remembering?"”

"Well, there was that time that I had those medical tests and the doctors were worried that I might have cancer and I remember praying, “Oh God, I’m too young to die.  My wife and kids need me.  So, Lord if You make those tests come back negative, I'll go to church every Sunday for a whole year.”

“That’s right and I answered your prayer, but you didn't keep your promise, did you?”

“I'm sorry, Lord, I really am. Up until now I thought that if I just prayed the Lord's Prayer every day, then I could do what I liked. I didn't expect anything to happen like it did.”

“Go ahead and finish your prayer.”

“For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen”

“Do you know what would bring me glory? What would really make me happy?”

“No, but I'd like to know. I want to please you now. I can see that I really need to do some things differently and I can see how great it would be if my life was in synch with You and what Your will is for me.”

“You just answered the question.”

“I did?”

“Yes. The thing that would bring Me glory is to have people like you truly love Me. And I see that happening between us. So now that we’ve cleared the air here there’s no telling what we can do together."

“That’s great Lord.  So, let's see what we can make of me, O.K.?”

“Well done…good and faithful servant.”

Jesus knows that the key to a really good prayer isn’t trying to change God or trying to get God to change someone else. The key is opening your heart and mind so God can change you.   Lord teach us how to pray.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

July 28, 2013