July 21 & 25, 2010 - Pentecost + 9

Jesus Teaches the Disciples About the One They Pray To
Luke 11:1-13
Pentecost + 9 – July 21/25, 2010

“Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples”
The disciples want to learn how to pray.
There was a Jewish custom of learning set prayers for prayer in AM & PM & meals,
Prayers they learned by heart;
John the Baptizer may have taught his followers such a prayer or prayers.
Disciples have watched Jesus praying & want what he has.
They want, perhaps, for Jesus to give them a set prayer,
which of course is how we have come to view & use the Lord's prayer.
Maybe they were looking for the magic words,
the “Open Sesame” that would open the way into God's presence.
They want to know how prayer works; how to make prayer work.

We too may want to learn how to pray,
to know how it works; how to make it work -
to feel like our prayers are effective, that they get God's attention.
We want the magic formula that will convince God to help us.
Lord's prayer gives us a model – but I wish Jesus would have stopped there
Verses 5-13 give us some problems.
They make me wrestle with Jesus.
They maybe give us some wrong ideas about what prayer is all about.

1st Story
the 2 neighbors – 1 in need of bread (us) & 1 in bed who doesn't want to get up
But even if the 1 in bed won't get up b/c of the friendship, will finally get up & give the other neighbor what he needs b/c he is persistent.
(The most persistent neighbor I know is Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory, who knocks on the door until his neighbor Penny lets him in, because she knows he won't go away otherwise.)

2nd part – Ask, search, knock = receive, find, open door
“for everyone who asks...,” Jesus says.
But that's not always how it works.
We don't always get what we ask for,
and I'm not just talking about the “frivolous” stuff – lottery or team winning,
but the deeper, more important, serious stuff of life – healing, safety, reconciliation
And yet people die too young, or remain in abusive situations; Evil-doers don't always get caught and stopped...
And we either wonder if God is not to be trusted, if God is not reliable; or we blame ourselves – questioning if we didn't pray persistently enough or ask loudly enough or have enough faith or seek in the right places, etc. - as if God only answers prayers when nagged long enough.

But we need to look deeper, explore a bit more.
Because even more important than the “how” of prayer
is understanding the “who” of prayer
– understanding who it is we are praying to;
and that's really what Jesus teaches here.
Lord's prayer aren't magic words.
They aren't the secret formula to getting to God's heart.
They're a good model.
They give us words when we don't have any.
But this prayer goes beyond that to tell us about who we are praying to:
FATHER, the word that tells us about relationship,
which makes all the other words possible,
not just in the Lord's Prayer, but in every prayer.
Jesus prayed, "Abba" - a word that means something more like Daddy or Papa -
that close, trusting relationship of a little child and their loving parent.
Jesus wants us to understand that when we pray,
we are not making requests of a distant diplomat or an impersonal judge
– but someone who loves us, who cares for us,
who watches out for us & wants what's best for us
and not just b/c we nag...

We misunderstand the story.
We think it's about the persistence of the one asking,
as if the result depends on the asker, not the one being asked.
In the culture of the time, hospitality was a matter of honor.
It was unthinkable that 1st friend wouldn't provide for surprise guest,
but even more unthinkable that friend 2 wouldn't get up and help him
because he would lose honor, lose status, lose reputation.
Just as unthinkable that God wouldn't help us – and this isn't a 1:1 thing.
Jesus isn't saying that God is like the neighbor doing things out of obligation or pride.
He's saying, "Imagine! If a neighbor would do it just for pride, how much more would God do it – out of love & concern for our needs..."

Just like a father who knows how to give good gifts
– God isn't trying to trick us when we ask for the things that we need
– if we ask for a fish, God won't pull the rug out from under us & give us a snake,
or a scorpion in place of an egg
If human parents, with all of their faults and failings,
do the best they can to do right by their children,
God is even more so!

This is what Jesus is trying to help the disciples & us understand
– that God is more reliable than a next door neighbor helping out of obligation;
God is more loving than the most loving human parent you can imagine.
That's who we pray to...

Part of prayer will always be a mystery.
Lots of our deepest, most earnest prayers won't be answered
the way we think they should, the way we desperately want them to,
And we won't always know why.
But this we do know:
God wants us to pray (Jesus says, "Ask!")
& God listens when we do.
So we pray with confidence,
not because we have the magic words,
not because we understand how prayer works
but because we trust the One we pray to,
who loves us more than we can ever imagine.
Amen.