Genesis 18:20-32;  Colossians 2:12-14;  Luke 11:1-13

The disciples came to Jesus with the request, “Lord, teach us to pray.” In reply Jesus gave us some of the most familiar words to Christians, “The Lord’s Prayer.”  Luke’s version is worded differently than Matthew’s from which we derive the memorized prayer.  But the first lesson we learn about Jesus’ prayer is that it is all about God and what wants for us:

“Father, hallowed be your name,

Your kingdom come” (Luke 11:2b)

“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9)

Our prayer is not just supposed to be about what we want, or what we think we need.  Prayer is discovering what God’s will is for us and then asking for the grace to conform our will to God’s will.

To this some would say, “Then what is the point of praying if we only end up getting what God wants instead of what we want?” The point is this.  We know that we would do the same if we were God.  We would not give our child a snake if he asked for a fish.  But neither would we give her a snake if she asked for a snake.  We know what is best for her; and we act accordingly. We do not always give to children their first request.  A child asks at bedtime, “Can I have a can of Coke?”  You know that if you give this child a can of Coke she will be up all night because of the caffeine and sugar.  And so  you might say, “How about a glass of milk instead?”  knowing that this can have the soothing effect of making her drowsy and helping her to fall asleep.

So God, as a loving Father, is not going to give us what we want or think we need, if it is not good for us.  But God always answers our prayers, and helps us to discover what it is that we really desire, and God gives us more than our hearts and minds can possible imagine.

God also will not settle for giving us only what we ask for if he intends something even greater.  I think of the time as a child when we went out for a drive on a summer evening.  This was not unusual because we had done this before.  I am sure that my sister and I had gone through the litany of “Can we go here?  Can we go there?  Can we stop for an ice cream cone?”  But my father just kept on driving.  Before we knew it we were pulling into the parking lot of the Civic Auditorium where the Barnum and Bailey Circus was performing.  Without our knowing it, our parents surprised us with the gift of the circus, when all we had asked for was an ice cream cone?  Why would God give us less than what he intends to give us by choosing only to give us what we ask for?

Because God knows what we really need, and wants to give us every good thing, then discovering God’s will is an essential part of our prayer.  To discover God’s will Luke goes on to teach us Jesus’  lessons of being persistent in prayer.  Jesus teaches us that God is more than a sleepy friend who only answers us when we are desperate.  Nevertheless, in this image Jesus teaches us to be persistent and bold until what we have prayed for is realized.

This boldness and persistence is evidenced also in the reading from Genesis, when Abraham daringly bargained with God.  “Would you save Sodom and Gomorrah if there were fifty innocent people living there . . . or forty-five . . . or forty . . . or even as few as ten?” In this exchange you can almost here the persistent child saying, “Can I, can I  can I?” or “Mom!, Mom!, Mom!”  And God puts up with this persistent line of questions because God wants Abraham to conform his will to God’s will.  Sadly, as we all know, there must not have been even ten righteous people, because God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  But God still showed his mercy.  Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his family were righteous and so God sent an angel to them to warn them to get out of the city.  He even sent Lot to warn his sons-in-law to leave with him, but the men only laughed him off, they rejected God.  And so God, in destroying a city filled with unholy people, while saving the few holy people who were living there, revealed to Abraham the extent of his mercy.

Today, it seems like America has gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Whether things are as bad as they seem to be or not, there are plenty of needs to be met and countless things and people and circumstances about which to pray.  Because of this we have one final lesson to be learned from Luke.

We must be regular and disciplined in prayer.  We must not pray only when we need things.  Neither should we allow our prayers to “pile up” until the needs become so overwhelming we cannot pray.  We must pray constantly and automatically so that prayer becomes as natural as breathing.  When we have this discipline of prayer in our lives we will become true intercessors through whom God’s loving purposes are accomplished.

This quality of praying that is like breathing will become second nature for us if we take to heart Jesus’ directive to pray for the Holy Spirit.  It is the Holy Spirit that is God’s gift.  Just as Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit, that same Spirit is given to us so that we will be led and empowered to continue what Jesus has begun.  Without the Holy Spirit there is no church.  Therefore we must pray for that daily bread and divine breath that will feed and fire all we are and say and do.  We must ask for the daily bread that defines us and makes us what we are called to be, the Body of Christ.^[1]

Tags: Bedtime, Caption, Christians, Coke, Colossians 2, Cycle C, Desire, Disciples, Fish, Fr. Boucher, Genesis, Glass Of Milk, Hallowed Be Your Name, Hearts And Minds, Heaven, Jesus Prayer, Kingdom Come, Loving Father, Luke 11, Prayers, Reply Jesus, Snake

This entry was posted on July 27, 2010 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Homily, Liturgy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.