Think of the Weirdest Person and Prayer You Have Been Witness To, Compare That To Jesus' Rules of Prayer

So the disciples come to Jesus with the request that He teach them how to pray “as John taught his disciples”.  We have no way to compare, because we do not have a record of John (this one being John the Baptist) when he was conducting ‘prayer lessons’.  Of course, Jesus (being Jesus), would he actually use John’s syllabus on prayer?  Probably not.

So, to start, Lesson #1, Jesus goes with the obvious.  Words.  And I say that like its obvious, but it might not be to some people.  I have seen people who appear to need to enter come kind of emotionally altered state in order to pray.  Hands clenched, eyes squeezed shut, body bent at an unnatural angle, some deep breathing (I suppose to hyper-oxygenate the blood?), and they’re off.  Sometimes there is an earnestness that feels like the person is seeking to pulse it outward in palpable waves.  My grandfather, before saying grace, used to bow his head, fold his hands, and then take a couple of heartbeats.  He had thick, thick eyebrows and I remember growing up thinking that he was scanning the table looking for stragglers in the ‘eye-closing’ department.  But then he prayed in a mumbling undertone that might have been English, might have Dutch (his native language); he might have been speaking in tongues for all I could perceive.

Jesus’ "prayer words" are on point.  First, remember Our Father, that He is Holy.  Give the Lord His due.  Then, remember the big mission, “Your kingdom come.”  In the "now", we have a lot going on, but we want Jesus back first and foremost.  I mean, Jesus is not gone yet in the gospel story, but its coming.  Jesus is clear on that point.  Next, remember the little mission, “Feed us today, day by day, each day, daily bread.”  Don’t get caught up with stuff.  Then, what comes around, goes around.  “Forgive our sins…like we forgive others…”  In one of the other gospels, that’s becomes a whole thing (Matthew 6).  But here, in Luke, it is golden rule stuff.  "Forgive unto others as You would have Jesus forgive unto you" (sort of).  God is not there simply to wave His hand and vanish our sins.  We need to learn from Him, imitate Christ, and do unto others.

We don’t get to stand on some kind of prideful box and claim forgiveness and salvation while selectively deciding who doesn't get the gift of salvation through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  I mean, we can, we have sin and free will.  But there are consequences.  How we decide to forgive is the measure Jesus will use to forgive us.  (Seriously, take some time to think on that one).

The final 'word' bit seems to speak to that, do not bring us into a time of trial.  May we not be tempted to claim forgiveness for ourselves but presume to judge everybody else.  Or maybe just ignore everybody else. 

Lesson #2, be persistent.  Not repetitive, but persistent.  I love the image Jesus lays down.  Pray like you are pounding on the door of your friend’s house at midnight after he has gone to bed-his sleep already interrupted by the bad dreams plaguing his children (maybe of crazy people banging on the door in the wee hours of the morning because they are hungry) so that he’s let the whole tribe of them invade HIS bed because he has them all up in bed with him, after which he locked down and sealed the family into their home to the fearful satisfaction of his children so that the crazy people from their dreams can’t get in and, from the depths of their overactive imaginations, carry off the ‘tastiest’ one as a meal; during which dad has developed a migraine trying to settle the argument over which kid ‘tastes’ the best…  Pray with such persistence that your friend (former friend?) will get up and wade through all of this insanity just to shove the three loaves of bread (NOT the tastiest kid) into your hands just to get rid of you and restore peace.  Not because of friendship, not because of love, but because it is the lesser evil, the greater and FAR MORE SATISFYING evil being to throttle you on his doorstep.

 For the sake of emphasis, I may have...inflated...the narrative a teeny bit.   

Finally, Lesson #3, prayer comes with a guarantee.  Ask, it’ll be given.  Search, you’ll find.  Knock, the door’ll open for you.   And it will be the good stuff.  Nobody gives their kid a snake when they ask for a fish.  Nobody gives their kid a scorpion when they ask for an egg.  NOT EVEN EVIL PEOPLE DO THAT!!  

The Guarantee: “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

Peace

pastor pete