Prayer: You Can't Always Get What You Want?

10 Pentecost, Cp12, July 24, 2016  

Gen. 18:20-33     Ps.85:7-13  

Col. 2:6-15   Luke 11:1-13 

   What is your belief about prayer?  Do the lines of the Rolling Stones express your philosophy of prayer?  "You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you might find You get what you need."  You can't always get what you pray for, but if you keep on praying you might get what you need.

  Our scripture readings today provide for us some insights about communication with God, the communication called prayer.  Prayer is a discourse which is common to people around the world.  I suspect that atheists do some accidental praying as well.  It is amazing how non-observant religious people often use the name of God in uncommon evocative ways eveb more than believers do.
  I would like to begin a presentation on prayer insight by highlighting the most important precursor to prayer.  Listening.  What did the psalmist write?  I will listen to what the Lord God is saying, *  for he is speaking peace to his faithful people  and to those who turn their hearts to him.
  The best way to start prayer is to listen, to be still and to hear God speaking peace to us.  If we don't listen, then we don't understand prayer to be an interchange between two parties.  If we rush into our petitions and requests wanting God simply to be our personal interventionist then prayer becomes not about a relationship but about me, and my needs.  If you want to fail at friendship, demand the time and attention of someone all of the time and barrage them with non-stop requests and opinions.  This is the way we drive potential friends away.  Remember prayer is primarily about relationship with God, ourselves and each other.  Relationships are about trust; good parents don't give their children snakes and scorpions when they ask for bread and an egg.  Prayer is based upon simply knowing that one has the freedom to ask God about and for anything. But petitions and requests are only a small part of our overall relationship with God.
  The prayer of Abraham involves a coming to acceptance about the probable and the inevitable.  One of the phases of the grief process is called "bargaining."  God, if I do this can I make the sad event of loss disappear?  Abraham suspected the worst about Sodom where his nephew Lot lived.  He knew it was a rotten city but he wanted to save his nephew.  Abraham bargained for God's protection of the city of Sodom because he wanted to save Lot and his family, bute he was suspicious that even Lot's family had become corrupted and compromised by the sins of Sodom.  The exchange between Abraham and God represent the bargaining dialogue of prayer.  We often have to engage in bargaining language as our coming to acceptance that we are not exempt from many of the losses which can come to us.  Why is bargaining valid prayer discourse?  Because we are haunted by the ideal of hope and the perfect.  We bargain because we believe that what is hopeful and ideal is the best option.  Yet, we adjust our bargaining offers gradually and in incremental stages because we keep adjusting our desire to what the best scenario is based upon the actual condition of freedom.  We bargain because we always want the best case scenario given the conditions on the ground.  Isn't that what we do as the church now in the midst all of the violent acts of terror in our world?  Lord, will you keep your people safe, given the probability of the conditions of freedom which allows hateful and deranged behaviors?
  For St. Paul, he believed that the mystical experience of Christ gave us an access to the interior invisible and heavenly world of perceiving a more perfect way of existence.  This mystical experience of spiritual rebirth is the experience of the Holy Spirit and by actualizing one's interior spiritual life, one celebrates the original heritage of one's life, as being sons and daughters of God with spiritual DNA to prove it.
  St. Paul wrote his letters before the Gospel writings and the prayer prescriptions of Jesus Christ illustrate the teaching of St. Paul and the early church.
  The Gospel of Luke gives us one of the version of the famous Lord's prayer for his disciples.  In this prayer we are taught to know ourselves as children of God.  We address God as "Our Father."   As children of the heavenly Father, we have access to the inner and heavenly realm of the perfect and the ideal.  And the great challenge is to make the great ideals which we know, actual in this world.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
  What is basic about earthly life?  Provision of life necessities.  Give us this day our daily bread.  Notice the plural pronoun?  "Give us."   We should be always asking for the general common good when we pray.
  In observation of community behavior there is a great barrier.  It is hatred, anger and retaliation which destroys community.  The problem is that we have access to what is perfect and ideal.  Sometimes we hold other people to a higher standard than we do ourselves.  So what do we need to survive and live together?  Forgiveness.  Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Forgiveness is difficult because of what is ideal and perfect, but that is why we pray over and over again for the dynamic of forgiveness to prevail in our lives and community.
  What is perhaps the worst scenario for anyone of us?  We do not want to be given a life situation for which we are not prepared.  We do not want to have an experience which will destroy our faith, our hope and our beliefs in what is good, perfect and ideal.  And so, the words of Jesus tell us to request of God:  Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from the situations of freedom when conflicting systems could catch us in harm's way.
  So us conclude about prayer:  Prayer begins by listening to God.  By listening we will most often find that the answers to our prayer have already been given to us.  Next, accept our primary identity as children of God and speak often to God as our heavenly parent.  Prayer is first of all about a loving relationship with God. Third, ask for the basic necessities for all of the people of this world.  Fourth, Ask for forgiveness and receive it as the reciprocal grace of practice in the forgiveness of others.  And finally, ask for protection for the evil that can happen because of the freedom in this world.  Ask to have the conditions which will support a life of faith and hope for everyone.
  My fellow Christians, if you don't believe that you are ordained to ministry, you are wrong.  Each and everyone of us is ordained to the ministry of prayer.  And I hope that you will continue to pray and to expand the time which you give to the completely portable ministry of prayer.  Today each of us have been given the cabinet position in God's kingdom: Minister of the Interior. Amen.

Sunday School, July 24, 2016 C proper 12

Sunday School, July 24, 2016      10 Pentecost, C proper 12

Theme Prayer

The disciples like us wanted to know how to pray and so they asked Jesus to teach them.  And we have the famous Lord’s Prayer, which is really the disciple’s prayer.

What did Jesus teach us in this prayer?

He said we are to address God as “Our Father.”  This means that we are to be like Jesus in that we know and accept ourselves as God’s children.

He taught us about God’s realm of heaven where perfection is to be found.  Inside us, we have access to the perfect values of God; we ask God to bring the will of God known in the invisible world of heaven to the visible world of earth.

He said we should ask for daily bread.  We ask for the things that we need.  “Give us this day our daily bread.”  We say, “Give us” and not “Give me.”  This means that we are always asking enough for all people to live with what is necessary for their lives.

Jesus also taught us that the only way that we can be successful in family, church and community is through the practice of forgiveness.  Since no one is perfect, it means we have to forgive each other to survive as people living together.

Jesus also told us to ask God our Father, to spare us from the difficult challenges of our lives which would destroy our faith and confidence in God and God’s love.

The Lord’s Prayer gives us a model of how we can pray in our lives.

Sermon

  What is the most famous prayer of all?  What is it called?

  It’s called the Lord’s Prayer and it begins with the words, “Our Father.”

  Jesus taught us to call God, “our father” because he was the Son of God, and he invited us to be sons and daughters of God.

  And we celebrate being sons and daughters of God by being a member of our second family; the family of our church.

  And since God is our Father and creator, we are to treat God and God’s name with great politeness and respect.  That’s why we say “hallowed is your name.”

  Jesus said that God the Father lives in heaven and that we are to ask him to let something of the perfect life of heaven happen upon earth.  Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

  And what would be perfect life on earth?

  It would be perfect if everyone had enough food to eat.  That’s why we pray, “Give us in this world this day, our daily bread.”  So we should help answer this prayer and work for everyone to have enough to eat.

  And what else would be heaven on earth?

  To practice forgiveness.  Forgiveness is learning how to say that we’re sorry and learning to give people another chance.

  What else would be heaven on earth?  To live our lives in such a way to avoid the things that cause us to lose hope and joy.  So we say, “save us from the time of trial.”  Or deliver us from temptation.  That means even if some bad things happen to us, if we live together as a family of care, then we will not lose our hope and joy when those bad things happen.

  So let us remember the famous prayer, the Our Father.

  Let us accept our selves as son and daughters of God and just like we talk we our moms and dads because we love them, let us learn to talk to God as our heavenly parent. 

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

July 24, 2016: The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs:Hallelu, Hallelujah, Sing a New Song, O Lord, Hear My Prayer,  He’s Got the Whole World

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Hallelu, Hallelujah,  (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 84)

Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelu, hallelu, hallelu, hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!  Hallelujah!  Praise ye the Lord!

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Liturgy Leader: In our prayers we first praise God, chanting the praise word: Alleluia

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Letter to the Colossians

As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 138

Though the LORD be high, he cares for the lowly; * he perceives the haughty from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you keep me safe; * you stretch forth your hand against the fury of my enemies; your right hand shall save me.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Birthdays:     

Anniversaries:  

(Sing Birthday blessings or wedding blessings to those present who are celebrating)

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name.  Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial."  And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.  "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 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!"

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Liturgy Leader: Next in our prayers, we remember people who have special needs.  As we pray let us chant:  Christ Have Mercy

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: Sing a New Song, (Renew!, # 21)

Refrain: sing a new song unto the Lord; let your song be sung from mountains high.  Sing a new song unto the Lord, singing, Alleluia.

1-Yahweh’s people dance for joy; O come before the Lord.  And play for him on glad tambourines, and let your trumpet sound.  Refrain

2-Rise, O children from your sleep; your savior now has come.  He has turned your sorrow to joy, and fill your soul with song.  Refrain

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(Children may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments) 

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: O Lord, Hear My Prayer, (Renew! # 173)

O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord hear my prayer:  when I call answer me.  O lord hear my prayer, O lord hear my prayer.  Come and listen to me.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: He’s Got the Whole World, (Christian Children’s Songbook,   # 90)

He’s got the whole world, in his hands.  He’s got the whole wide world, in his hands, he’s got the whole world, in his hands.  He got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got the little tiny babies….

He’s got the brothers and the sisters…

He’s got the mommies and the daddies….

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God! 

Is God My On-Call Personal Interventionist or Calling us to Creativity?

10 Pentecost, Cp12, July 28, 2013  

Gen. 18:20-33     Ps.85:7-13  

Col. 2:6-15   Luke 11:1-13 

Lectionary Link

   What is prayer?  If we look to the catechism in the Book of Common Prayer we find this answer:  Prayer is responding to God, with or without words.  That is a rather embracing notion of prayer.  We probably are more used to compartmentalized and occasion specific prayers, like table grace or the corporate prayers of the church when we gather to offer the Holy Eucharist or one of the other prayer offices.  Perhaps, you have your own style and practice of private prayer in the morning or in the evening.  Maybe you practice centering prayers, or meditation or contemplation as a way of remembering the fullness of God everywhere.  In centering prayer we can practice a command of God, written by the psalmist:  :Be still and know that I am God.”  In a busy life, it is sometime a necessity to take time to be still

  Today, we have some lessons from Holy Scripture on prayer.  We read that even after the great man of faith Abraham bargained with God, he still could not change the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Apparently, Abraham did not get his prayer answered and his prayer ended up in talking himself into accepting what actually was going to happen.

  In a Gospel tradition, the disciples of Jesus asked Jesus to teach them to pray.  And in the example of prayer that Jesus gave to his disciple and in his ironic explanations, one can sense the motive that his disciples had for learning to pray and we are given some insights that are attributed to Jesus about prayer.

  I suspect that the motive of the disciple for wanting to know how to pray was this:  They wanted to have influence with God.  They wanted God to be their own on-call personal interventionist for their needs.  I think that one of the reasons people quit church and quit praying is that they find out rather quickly that God is not an “on-call interventionist” stepping in to fulfill what I need and on my time schedule.

  God, I want bread and how come it seems that I am getting  a rock?  God, I want fish and how come it seems as though I am getting a snake?  God, I want an egg and how come it seems that I am getting a scorpion?

  We are or can be so ego-centric as to think that the universe should follow our own schedule so that when we are confronted with a delay in our needs gratification, we can bemoan the inconvenience of our actual circumstances not to give us what we need and when we need it.  And we can protest, “but God, I only want regular things…food, clothing, shelter, good health, safety for myself and my family and friends.  And what’s wrong with wanting those sorts of things?”  Could it be that in this prayer dilemma, Jesus is also giving us the invitation to the kind of abstract thinking needed for invention and creativity?  Necessity is the mother of invention?  Stone, instead of bread?  Perhaps I am to earn my bread by being a geologist?  My fish by being an herpetologist?  My egg by being an arachnologist? 
Sickness?  Maybe God is teaching us something about health and how to be with the suffering?  And how to be really appreciative and thankful when we do have health.  Perhaps poverty, lack of church participation is the challenge for us to learn how to be relevant to the lives of people in a different way?

    In our age of skepticism, some people might question the value and the purpose of prayer.  Why should we pray?  I mean if you can’t see God’s immediate intervention why should we pray?

  I believe that the ironic response of Jesus indicates that Jesus wanted his disciples to be attuned to the spiritual flow of life itself, rather than just see God as an omni-present Santa Claus dropping gifts to us whenever we ask.  Jesus was trying to teach his disciples that his Father was a giver of good gifts and maybe his disciples’ definition of “good gifts” was much too narrow.

  During the development of modern psychology, psycho-therapy was sometimes referred to as the “talking cure.”  What if we could understand prayer as the “talking cure” that we can have in our relationship with God?    How can we come to health through persistent “talking with God?”  How can prayer become our talking cure?

  I think that it is important for each person in life to find his or her voice.  Each person needs to practice the words that each one has and be able to use them to tie together their inner lives with the events in their outer lives.  Part of finding our voice has to do with finding a way to name and categorize all of what we experience.  Part of maturity involves an honest assessment of what is actually happening in our lives.  An egg is desired, but a scorpion appears.  A fish is desired, but we seem to get a snake.  We want bread, but apparently we receive a rock.  In finding our prayer voice we learn to find a way to deal with delayed gratification and one of the results is to receive an increased appreciation for even the things that we desire even the basic things of life, the fish, eggs and bread.   When we find our voice, our prayer voice, our talking cure with God, our life experience becomes more expansive.  We begin to deal with a larger spectrum of human experience and so we become better able to deal with more diverse circumstances and we become more useful to the people who need us and depend upon us.

  A wise parent does not just yield to a child in a temper tantrum who is demanding immediate needs gratification.  Why?  Because a parent wants to teach the child many other ways of responding and acting to an apparent situation of need.  Always giving in and being an interventionist at the whim of a child is not wise parenting.

  So we have  prayer as a practice to find our talking cure with God.  And if we are persistent with this talking cure, if we can find our prayer voice, we will find that God’s Spirit has been given to us and that we are in a wonderful flow.  Then from our relationship with God, we can find ways to integrate the human experience that comes our way.

  Learning to pray is not treating God as our own personal interventionist; it is more about getting in tune with God’s Spirit so that we can know how God is already intervening in and through us.

  Perhaps you have heard it said that “Prayer changes things.”  I don’t think that is true.  What is true is that things can become seen differently as we are changed by prayer and as we understand that we are in the flow with God’s Spirit.

  The words of Jesus encourage us to find our “talking cure” with God today.  Prayer is a way to find our voice; if you need to keep a journal of your prayer talk with God, do it.  Work to bring to language everything in your inside world in interaction with your outside world as a way of finding your voice.  If you find your prayer voice, then you will also have words of wisdom to share with the people who need you to find your prayer voice.

  May God help us to practice the “talking cure” of prayer today, and may we find our voice, a voice that is able to integrate our inner worlds with the events that are occurring in our outer worlds.  As we read the circumstances as the "response"  to our prayers, let us also be willing to let need and necessity be for us the inspiration for invention and creativity today.  Amen.