Sermon 4th November 2007
Today, Gill Tayleur, one of our OLM Trainee Ministers, preaches based on the reading from Ephesians 3:14-21
WHY AND HOW DO I PRAY?
I read in the paper this week that Selfridges has opened a Psychic School for Halloween.
Yes the luxury Oxford St department store is offering customers a psychic school, teaching them to tap into their spiritual powers. Selfridges already offers tarot-card readings, clairvoyance and palm reading by The Psychic Sisters. One of them says, “We believe that we were all born with psychic abilities waiting to be explored and nurtured.”
But getting in touch with powers “out there” doesn’t need a psychic! The God of the universe is ready & waiting for us to communicate with him by praying! And that’s this morning’s subject, in our series on the fundamentals of Christian faith. Our question today is “Why and how do I pray?”
I want to start by acknowledging 2 things:
1 is that I don’t speak to you as an expert in prayer! I have the same questions that occur to almost everyone at some point.
Does prayer ‘work’? How does prayer ‘work’? Is God really listening or am I talking to empty space? If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer? Why do answers to prayer seem inconsistent? Why is it that sometimes when I pray, God seems wonderfully near but at other times far away? Does prayer change God or change me? And so on.
Of course, no-one has the answers to all those questions, which is the 2nd thing I must acknowledge: that ultimately, there are aspects of prayer that are a mystery, like God himself. There’s a lot that we can understand about prayer, but at times prayer is a leap of faith & trust. At times it’s easy & joyful, but at others it’s hard going.
But what are we talking about, WHAT IS PRAYER?
Prayer is a conversation with God. It’s a relationship, not a ritual. We pray to God our Father. In the passage Joe read from Ephesians, Paul says he kneels before the Father and prays. Jesus taught his disciples to pray to “Our Father in heaven”. He uses an intimate word for Father, like we might use Daddy or Papa. Even though God is the infinite creator of everything that exists, he wants to relate to us like a Daddy. Whatever the failings of our human fathers, God is our perfect father, who loves us beyond our wildest dreams! Like any other relationship, in order for it to work well, we need to communicate with one another. And prayer is that communication. We talk to God, he talks to us. We spend time together.
So WHY DO WE PRAY?
God already knows what we think and feel about things, already knows what we need. So why do we have to tell him?
Sometimes a parent may know what their child is upset about, or happy about, because it’s obvious to them. But it’s still a pleasure when the child gets on the parent’s lap and pours it all out. It deepens the relationship between them, and it’s the same with us & God.
Also, we pray because Jesus did. He frequently found a quiet place to pray. Surely if Jesus needed particular times of prayer for his relationship with his Father, we need them too!
And Jesus assumed his disciples would pray as well, as he taught them things about “when” they pray, not “if” they pray.
And of course we pray because prayer changes us and changes situations.
It changes me, because my attitudes change when I pray about a particular situation. Sometimes my behaviour changes too! Cameron has asked on several occasions from this lectern, “Are you willing to be the answer to your own prayers?” Yes sometimes prayer changes us.
And it changes situations.
Talking about prayer, Jesus said “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Prayer makes things happen. We don’t fully understand how, but prayer is powerful.
We’ve read in Ephesians that “he is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”. Christians know through experience that God answers prayer, sometimes wonderfully. Of course such answers cannot be proven beyond all doubt. Some people may cynically say that things I see as answers to my prayers are coincidences. Well, maybe, but as someone once said, “it’s extraordinary how the more I pray, the more coincidences happen!”
BUT DOES GOD ALWAYS ANSWER PRAYER?
Jesus words ‘ask, seek, find’ seem to imply that God will always answer whatever we pray. But if we look at the whole of what the Bible teaches, there are reasons why we don’t always get what we ask for.
Sometimes it’s because of sin, the wrong and self centred ways we live, that create a barrier between us and God. We need to admit this and turn from it, confess our sin, for our relationship with God to be restored.
Sometimes our motivation may be wrong.
Not every prayer for a Porche is answered!
Sometimes what we are asking for isn’t good for us, either not good in itself, or not good for us or others.
So God’s answer to our prayers may be YES, NO or WAIT. Phew! Imagine if we got everything we asked for no matter what!
I’m not wise enough to know what’s best!
No, prayer isn’t a set of magic words; as I keep saying it’s a relationship. A relationship that requires FAITH and TRUST in our Father’s love and his power. It’s not a magic formula for us to play with.
I have seen some exciting answers to my prayers. But if I’m honest, there are things I’ve prayed about for years, and not had the answer I’ve wanted. Such as prayers for healing of someone I love. Why not?
Sometimes we can’t understand why.
But perhaps that’s why the promises in the Bible about prayer are sometimes qualified.
1 John 5 says “if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” His will. We don’t always know God’s will. But the more we get to know him, the more we get to know his will, and the more we trust him & his love.
So, HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?
There’s no set way to pray, remember it’s a relationship! Our loving Father wants to hear what’s on our hearts, wants to hear about our triumphs, joys, failures, pains and worries.
He wants to hear what’s on the surface, and what’s deep down inside.
Some people do find it helpful to have a pattern though. One famous pattern is using the letters A-C-T-S, ACTS.
A stands for Adoration - worshipping God for who he is and what he has done.
C stands for Confession - admitting our self centred attitudes and behaviours, and asking for forgiveness as we promise to live differently in future.
T stands for Thanks - for the good things that we enjoy.
And S stands for Supplication - an old fashioned word for requests, for ourselves & others.
A.C.T.S. Adoration. Confession. Thanks. Supplication. ACTS.
Whether or not we use a particular pattern, Jesus said we are to pray with faith and to not give up. When I feel like giving up, I try to persist because Jesus said to. And because I believe that what I am doing is best for me whether or not it feels like it. So I try to keep on praying.
Another aspect of prayer, our conversation with God, is that sometimes He speaks too! When I slow down enough to just sit still and quiet with God for a while, we can be in a kind of companiable silence as I might be with a close friend.
Then I sometimes have what I call a lightbulb moment, when I see or understand something in a new way. It is like a light has been switched on – ah ha! Most often it’s when I’m praying about a situation and I suddenly realise what’s really going on - often what’s going on in my own motivation or thinking.
Or sometimes people have a word or picture idea that pops into their head that they sense is from God.
So prayer really is a two way conversation, even though we’re very unequal partners in our communication with the God of the universe.
Remembering that inequality, and coming to talk with God humbly, is essential.
But we can only come just as we are, which may be at times, guilty, helpless, doubting – but above all, let’s be honest. That means telling God when we’re upset, sad, angry even! Look at the Psalms, they’re full of anger, frustration and pain, as well as, on different occasions, joy & relief & excitement. We can bring all that lot to God too. As our loving Father, he wants us to be honest with him.
So, WHEN SHOULD WE PRAY?
The Bible says to pray always!
Sometimes prayer can be a kind of ongoing conversation between us and God through the day. Certainly we can pray walking down the street, on the bus, in bed, anywhere, any time. But as well as the running conversation, which may be very intermittent, it is a help to have special times for prayer when we give God our full attention.
I find it helpful to have a little while at the beginning of the day for prayer and reading the Bible together, as I’m a morning person.
As well as individual prayer, praying with others can be very powerful and encouraging. Jesus said “Whenever 2 of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”
There’s an opportunity to pray together coming up this week on Wednesday evening, at St Saviour’s from 8 to 9.30. There’ll be a mix of formal and informal prayer, a little singing, and opportunity to pray aloud and silently.
There’s no pressure for anyone to pray out loud, so don’t let that put you off. Please, come along! And there’s good coffee & cake!
There’s so much more that could be said about prayer, and I want to recommend this book to you. By Philip Yancey, it’s called
“Prayer: does it make any difference?”
On the front is blue skies and sunshine, on the back brown, dry, barren earth. Those pictures show that Philip Yancey knows that communication with God can involve both experiences. This book doesn’t avoid the difficult questions about prayer and doesn’t pretend it’s all easy & simple. It’s about prayer as it really is, the highs and the lows, and I highly recommend it.
In it, in answer to the question why do we pray? Philip Yancey says, “I pray as I breathe – because I can’t help it.” It’s a natural part of our relationship with our loving Father God.
So. To sum up, why and how do I pray?
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “Prayer is simply talking to God. He speaks to us: we listen. We speak to him: he listens. A two-way process: speaking and listening.”
We have a Father in heaven who loves us so much that he wants us to come and talk with him. That love is what Paul prays about in the prayer from Ephesians we started with.
He wrote to the church in Ephesus:
“I pray that you may have power to grasp how wide & long & how high & deep is the love of Chris, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
And in case we think that’s too much to pray for, he goes on, “to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
What a God! Let’s pray!
WHY AND HOW DO I PRAY?
I read in the paper this week that Selfridges has opened a Psychic School for Halloween.
Yes the luxury Oxford St department store is offering customers a psychic school, teaching them to tap into their spiritual powers. Selfridges already offers tarot-card readings, clairvoyance and palm reading by The Psychic Sisters. One of them says, “We believe that we were all born with psychic abilities waiting to be explored and nurtured.”
But getting in touch with powers “out there” doesn’t need a psychic! The God of the universe is ready & waiting for us to communicate with him by praying! And that’s this morning’s subject, in our series on the fundamentals of Christian faith. Our question today is “Why and how do I pray?”
I want to start by acknowledging 2 things:
1 is that I don’t speak to you as an expert in prayer! I have the same questions that occur to almost everyone at some point.
Does prayer ‘work’? How does prayer ‘work’? Is God really listening or am I talking to empty space? If God knows everything, what’s the point of prayer? Why do answers to prayer seem inconsistent? Why is it that sometimes when I pray, God seems wonderfully near but at other times far away? Does prayer change God or change me? And so on.
Of course, no-one has the answers to all those questions, which is the 2nd thing I must acknowledge: that ultimately, there are aspects of prayer that are a mystery, like God himself. There’s a lot that we can understand about prayer, but at times prayer is a leap of faith & trust. At times it’s easy & joyful, but at others it’s hard going.
But what are we talking about, WHAT IS PRAYER?
Prayer is a conversation with God. It’s a relationship, not a ritual. We pray to God our Father. In the passage Joe read from Ephesians, Paul says he kneels before the Father and prays. Jesus taught his disciples to pray to “Our Father in heaven”. He uses an intimate word for Father, like we might use Daddy or Papa. Even though God is the infinite creator of everything that exists, he wants to relate to us like a Daddy. Whatever the failings of our human fathers, God is our perfect father, who loves us beyond our wildest dreams! Like any other relationship, in order for it to work well, we need to communicate with one another. And prayer is that communication. We talk to God, he talks to us. We spend time together.
So WHY DO WE PRAY?
God already knows what we think and feel about things, already knows what we need. So why do we have to tell him?
Sometimes a parent may know what their child is upset about, or happy about, because it’s obvious to them. But it’s still a pleasure when the child gets on the parent’s lap and pours it all out. It deepens the relationship between them, and it’s the same with us & God.
Also, we pray because Jesus did. He frequently found a quiet place to pray. Surely if Jesus needed particular times of prayer for his relationship with his Father, we need them too!
And Jesus assumed his disciples would pray as well, as he taught them things about “when” they pray, not “if” they pray.
And of course we pray because prayer changes us and changes situations.
It changes me, because my attitudes change when I pray about a particular situation. Sometimes my behaviour changes too! Cameron has asked on several occasions from this lectern, “Are you willing to be the answer to your own prayers?” Yes sometimes prayer changes us.
And it changes situations.
Talking about prayer, Jesus said “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Prayer makes things happen. We don’t fully understand how, but prayer is powerful.
We’ve read in Ephesians that “he is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”. Christians know through experience that God answers prayer, sometimes wonderfully. Of course such answers cannot be proven beyond all doubt. Some people may cynically say that things I see as answers to my prayers are coincidences. Well, maybe, but as someone once said, “it’s extraordinary how the more I pray, the more coincidences happen!”
BUT DOES GOD ALWAYS ANSWER PRAYER?
Jesus words ‘ask, seek, find’ seem to imply that God will always answer whatever we pray. But if we look at the whole of what the Bible teaches, there are reasons why we don’t always get what we ask for.
Sometimes it’s because of sin, the wrong and self centred ways we live, that create a barrier between us and God. We need to admit this and turn from it, confess our sin, for our relationship with God to be restored.
Sometimes our motivation may be wrong.
Not every prayer for a Porche is answered!
Sometimes what we are asking for isn’t good for us, either not good in itself, or not good for us or others.
So God’s answer to our prayers may be YES, NO or WAIT. Phew! Imagine if we got everything we asked for no matter what!
I’m not wise enough to know what’s best!
No, prayer isn’t a set of magic words; as I keep saying it’s a relationship. A relationship that requires FAITH and TRUST in our Father’s love and his power. It’s not a magic formula for us to play with.
I have seen some exciting answers to my prayers. But if I’m honest, there are things I’ve prayed about for years, and not had the answer I’ve wanted. Such as prayers for healing of someone I love. Why not?
Sometimes we can’t understand why.
But perhaps that’s why the promises in the Bible about prayer are sometimes qualified.
1 John 5 says “if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” His will. We don’t always know God’s will. But the more we get to know him, the more we get to know his will, and the more we trust him & his love.
So, HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?
There’s no set way to pray, remember it’s a relationship! Our loving Father wants to hear what’s on our hearts, wants to hear about our triumphs, joys, failures, pains and worries.
He wants to hear what’s on the surface, and what’s deep down inside.
Some people do find it helpful to have a pattern though. One famous pattern is using the letters A-C-T-S, ACTS.
A stands for Adoration - worshipping God for who he is and what he has done.
C stands for Confession - admitting our self centred attitudes and behaviours, and asking for forgiveness as we promise to live differently in future.
T stands for Thanks - for the good things that we enjoy.
And S stands for Supplication - an old fashioned word for requests, for ourselves & others.
A.C.T.S. Adoration. Confession. Thanks. Supplication. ACTS.
Whether or not we use a particular pattern, Jesus said we are to pray with faith and to not give up. When I feel like giving up, I try to persist because Jesus said to. And because I believe that what I am doing is best for me whether or not it feels like it. So I try to keep on praying.
Another aspect of prayer, our conversation with God, is that sometimes He speaks too! When I slow down enough to just sit still and quiet with God for a while, we can be in a kind of companiable silence as I might be with a close friend.
Then I sometimes have what I call a lightbulb moment, when I see or understand something in a new way. It is like a light has been switched on – ah ha! Most often it’s when I’m praying about a situation and I suddenly realise what’s really going on - often what’s going on in my own motivation or thinking.
Or sometimes people have a word or picture idea that pops into their head that they sense is from God.
So prayer really is a two way conversation, even though we’re very unequal partners in our communication with the God of the universe.
Remembering that inequality, and coming to talk with God humbly, is essential.
But we can only come just as we are, which may be at times, guilty, helpless, doubting – but above all, let’s be honest. That means telling God when we’re upset, sad, angry even! Look at the Psalms, they’re full of anger, frustration and pain, as well as, on different occasions, joy & relief & excitement. We can bring all that lot to God too. As our loving Father, he wants us to be honest with him.
So, WHEN SHOULD WE PRAY?
The Bible says to pray always!
Sometimes prayer can be a kind of ongoing conversation between us and God through the day. Certainly we can pray walking down the street, on the bus, in bed, anywhere, any time. But as well as the running conversation, which may be very intermittent, it is a help to have special times for prayer when we give God our full attention.
I find it helpful to have a little while at the beginning of the day for prayer and reading the Bible together, as I’m a morning person.
As well as individual prayer, praying with others can be very powerful and encouraging. Jesus said “Whenever 2 of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”
There’s an opportunity to pray together coming up this week on Wednesday evening, at St Saviour’s from 8 to 9.30. There’ll be a mix of formal and informal prayer, a little singing, and opportunity to pray aloud and silently.
There’s no pressure for anyone to pray out loud, so don’t let that put you off. Please, come along! And there’s good coffee & cake!
There’s so much more that could be said about prayer, and I want to recommend this book to you. By Philip Yancey, it’s called
“Prayer: does it make any difference?”
On the front is blue skies and sunshine, on the back brown, dry, barren earth. Those pictures show that Philip Yancey knows that communication with God can involve both experiences. This book doesn’t avoid the difficult questions about prayer and doesn’t pretend it’s all easy & simple. It’s about prayer as it really is, the highs and the lows, and I highly recommend it.
In it, in answer to the question why do we pray? Philip Yancey says, “I pray as I breathe – because I can’t help it.” It’s a natural part of our relationship with our loving Father God.
So. To sum up, why and how do I pray?
Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “Prayer is simply talking to God. He speaks to us: we listen. We speak to him: he listens. A two-way process: speaking and listening.”
We have a Father in heaven who loves us so much that he wants us to come and talk with him. That love is what Paul prays about in the prayer from Ephesians we started with.
He wrote to the church in Ephesus:
“I pray that you may have power to grasp how wide & long & how high & deep is the love of Chris, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
And in case we think that’s too much to pray for, he goes on, “to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
What a God! Let’s pray!
posted by Parish Administrator at 10:58 am
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