August 5, 2007

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Acts 1:12-14

12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walkfrom the city. 13When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

1 Thessalonians 5:17

pray continually

Message: Sacred Rhythms …. #4 - “Prayer”

Believing that confession is good for the soul (though not recommended for candidates running for presidential office) this morning as we consider the role of prayer in drawing us closer to God, I want to confess what you might not expect a Pastor to confess; that I find prayer very difficult.

Now I’m not talking about praying in the sense of “pastoral prayers” on Sunday morning or prayers offered during Communion or at weddings or funerals. I have no problem with offering grace at family gatherings, though I wonder why others so automatically pass it on to me!

Rather, I confess to the difficulty I have in my personal prayers with God; those prayers which expose my private thoughts and my personal will before the throne of Almighty God. Everyday, whether at home or here in my office, a wrestling match takes place between my desire to come to God one-on-one in prayer, and my desire to flee into the busyness of life. I relate with “Isaiah” who finds himself standing before Holy God and thinks:

Isaiah 6:5

"Woe to me!....I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

I relate with “Martha”, who stands ready to cook for Jesus and his disciples, although I do hear Him calling me to be “Mary” for at least a few minutes.
Bruce, Bruce….:

Luke 10:41-42a

…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.

That “one thing” is a relationship with God; an ability, if you will, granted us by God through the cleansing of our sins in Jesus’ death on the cross; (the very prophetic vision of Isaiah, the burning coal from the alter of God, that touched his lips, cleansed his sins and took away his guilt); the one thing that is necessary is that Christ-given ability to interact with God…to pray to Him; to allow His Holy Spirit to affect us, even as we are allowed by God to influence the workings of His Kingdom. That, in essence is prayer.

“Prayer” is not a new concept for most of us; today is not the first message you’ve heard on this subject.

So the question I want us to ponder today is simply, “knowing of God’s invitation to prayer, why don’t we pray more?” If prayer has the power to change us for the better, and to impact our world, why do we behave so differently than the early church, who …

Acts 1:14

…all joined together constantly in prayer

Why don’t we do what Paul encourages in Thessalonians (as well as in Philippians 4:6 & Ephesians 6:18 ), why don’t we “continually pray”?

There are a few “roadblocks” to such a prayer life which I want to explore this morning, in the hope that as we bring them into the light, we might acknowledge them, put them behind us, and draw closer to God through personal prayer.

The first “roadblock” I see to personal prayer is

1. A fear of intimacy

Ruth Haley Barton’s chapter on prayer, from her book, “Sacred Rhythms”, is subtitled “Deepening our intimacy with God”. In that chapter she defines prayer as “all the ways in which we communicate and commune with God” (p. 63) Prayer, she maintains, is much more than the words we say to God; it also includes those relational aspects we could note in intimate relationships with friends; the silent trust we experience in knowing each other, the rest we feel in the presence of God, the praises we sing, and honest and healthy give-and-take (remember Abraham & Moses’ “negotiations” with God appealing to His mercy and His character).

Prayer is a blessed tool given to us by God to develop an intimate relationship. When we prayed as Jesus’ instructed this morning; saying “Our Father”… Abba…. Jesus was telling us to refer to God Almighty in a deeply personal way.

Prayer is the tool for developing intimacy with God.

But with that wonderful invitation comes also a “roadblock”, for any who fear of intimacy.

Sometimes because of abuse; because of relationship histories, because of tragic loss, or sometimes because of feelings of inadequacy people back away from intimate relationships. For to be truly intimate is to be vulnerable and transparent. And to come in prayer to the One to sees everything, from whom nothing can be hidden; intimacy with God is a threatening idea for many. It is a “roadblock” to prayer.

I see a fear of intimacy played out in the church when I note a pastor who regularly accept a new calling every few years. If pastors hang around a church for a long time their weaknesses as well as they strengths become pretty well-known. They run the risk of being rejected… a risk of being intimate with others.

When pastors leave early, they often do so to avoid the risks of being vulnerable and transparent with parishioners.

I also see this same dynamic among parishioners who “hop” from church to church. Barbara Crane gave me a recently published newspaper article highlighting this trend in our area. While people “hop” from church to church for many reasons, a fear of intimacy is one reason.

We all know that visitors can expect a nice reception in churches open for growth…. but many “church hoppers” soon question “will I still be accepted once everyone gets to know me? When my weaknesses are as well-known as my strengths, will there be the grace in this church to love and tolerate me?”

When that time comes, and it comes for everybody, when relationships in the church grow intimate enough that our warts begin to show…. Those who fear intimacy jump to a new church family.

While I have seen this happen here in Hopkinton, one of the reasons I love Community Covenant is that this is a family of faith which is full of grace and love. You are a church family that has allowed me to be myself, and you still love me. And for people who come in these doors and fear intimacy for whatever reason, your love and grace over time is a healing force that not only deepens your relationships with others, but also models an intimate relationship with a God who knows all, but still sent His Son to die so that we can live with Him for all eternity.

People who live in that reality, of God’s immeasurable grace and love, and who share that life in the church through their relationship with others, help others to no longer fear intimacy with God. And if that “roadblock” is finally put aside, perhaps more of us will discover the joy of praying without ceasing.

A second “roadblock” to personal prayer is

2. A Spirits of Independence or Self-sufficiency

While I am not going to spend a lot of time parsing this point I would say that if you find prayer difficult because you feel a need to live an independent or self-sufficient life, please question the source of that thinking.

If you do, I know that you will discover that source in cultural messages, and not in the Bible. Perhaps you read the best-selling 1970’s book, Guide to Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour. Or perhaps his 2003 update, New Complete Self-Sufficiency. (I guess the earlier edition must have lacked something.) You might also might be encouraging your self-sufficiency by reading the 2004 book, The Big Book of Self-Reliant Living: Advice and Information on Just About Everything You Need to Know to Live on Planet Earth.

Or, instead of letting your culture mold your thinking, you could reject its messages of self-sufficiency and independence as a cultural flaw, and accept the basic biblical message that we need God to be saved; we need Jesus’ sacrifice, we need His Spirit at work within us to “work out” God’s gift of salvation.

An attitude of independence and self-sufficiency blocks prayer to God, but as Philip Yancey so wonderfully writes in his new book on prayer:

If I had to answer the question “Why pray?” in one sentence, it would be “Because Jesus did.” He bridged the chasm between God and human beings. While on earth he became vulnerable, as we are vulnerable; rejected, as we are rejected; and tested, as we are tested. In every case his response was prayer.

(Yancey, Philip, Prayer: Does It make Any Difference?, Zondervan, 2006, p. 50)

When we breakdown the barrier; when we set aside the lie of independence and self-sufficiency, perhaps more of us will discover the joy of praying without ceasing.

The final “roadblock” to prayer, which I want to discuss this morning is

3. A Sense of Fatalism

Now, I want to acknowledge that I am walking a bit of a theological tightrope here, but consider these thoughts carefully. For while I affirm God’s unchanging nature, described throughout scripture and reiterated when the writer of Hebrews declared that:

Hebrews 13:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

And while I would also affirm God’s ultimate victory and the fulfillment of all his promises as being set, I do not affirm that we are to live passively… to accept the inevitability of “fate”. How often have you heard people express a fatalistic attitude by saying “What good is it to pray?”

There are just too many examples in scripture where God allowed human prayers and pleas to influence His actions. There are too many cases in scripture of God’s calling for the prayers of His people to accomplish the work of His Kingdom.

While I would continually affirm God’s sovereignty over all, I cannot help but conclude that in His desire to have a true relationship with us, that not only does praying profoundly affect our thinking and our actions, but that through prayer God has given us a measure of power to influence the working out of His plans. Even Jesus, in His memorable prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, said

Matthew 26:39

"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."

In that one sentence we hear our Lord yielding to God’s will, but not yielding to fate, for “possibilities” imply alternative ways to accomplish God’s work.

I know this is a poor analogy to the wonderful gift God has given us in prayer, but consider how fatalistic people are these days about political elections. Notice and understand the meaning of the persistently low percentage of people who actually exercise their right to vote. When people think their vote doesn’t make a difference, they are giving in to fate.

But recently, our presidential debates have been changed in ways which I see as empowering people to challenge this fatalistic thinking. Through interactive technologies of email questioning and U-Tube video uploading, the average person is beginning to communicate directly with candidates. We no longer have to hope that carefully selected panel members will ask the questions which weigh heaviest on our minds. Because of interactive technology, there is a chance.. as small as it may be, that our thoughts will know, and that our questions will make a difference in revealing the best candidates.

When we realize that even as prayer changes us, God allows our prayers to influence the working out of His plans, perhaps more of us will discover the joy of praying without ceasing as we put aside a fatalistic mindset.

Despite the difficulties we might have in coming to God in personal devotional prayer, the good news I share with you is that as we push past those barriers,

- God is there with love & grace, anxious for an intimate relationship,

- God is there, providing all we need for live here and life eternal, and

- God is there, waiting to respond to you, and welcoming your participation in the working out of His Kingdom.

If we are willing to put our “roadblocks” behind us, trusting in the God described in the Bible, then we can begin a very real journey toward God through prayer.

In a book by Dallas Willard, which helps us understand how God changes lives, we hear that….

...prayer as a discipline has its greatest force in strengthening the spiritual life only as we learn to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17; Phil. 4:6) We can train ourselves to invoke God’s presence in every action we perform. This is an experiential fact that has been proven in the lives of many disciples of Jesus, ancient and modern. God will meet us in love, and love will keep our minds directed toward him as the magnet pulls the needle of the compass. Habit will be confirmed in gracious interaction, and our whole lives will be bathed in the presence of God.

Willard, Dallas, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives, HarperSanFrancisco, 1988. p. 185

Would you join with me in discovering Gods loving presence as together we begin to develop a habit of continual prayer? Are you willing to set aside whatever barriers you have in your prayer life to draw nearer to God?

It is said that it takes about 21 days for human beings to develop a habit, so….This week I invite you to begin making use of a three weekly journal (see end of message). At the end of each day in the coming 3 weeks, would you reflect on your day, and the prayers you raised to God throughout that day? If you are willing to make personal prayer a habit, I encourage you to share your joys and you observations with trusted Christian friends.

Let us grow closer to God together through prayer.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

Three Week Prayer Journal

Week 1

Sunday PM