When You Pray, Say…
He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “Whenever you pray, say,
Father,
your name be honored as holy.
Your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves also forgive everyone
in debt to us.
And do not bring us into temptation.”5 He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ 7 Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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?”
Prayer is a funny thing. I mean odd…not laughable…although….to hear some of my prayers…
When put on the spot… and yours…
No… but it is odd in that so many have such a hard time with prayer. What it is…how to do it…etc.
And yet it seems that so many have the answers too—the way to pray…effective prayer…mastering the art of prayer…praying right…so that God answers you—hundreds of books all about prayer.
And all at the same time few go to the source. Few do what the disciples of Jesus do…did….
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”
Few go to where Jesus speaks…where He answers us…where He teaches us how to pray.
Why?
They don’t like the answer. Not the answer to our prayers, but the words of asking…
Well…I mean…is that it? Just the Lord’s Prayer?
Yes, prayer is that simple. A child can do it…and should. That is why we teach them the Lord’s Prayer.
2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say…
Now, it is true that people have this prayer memorized…and then at the right time…they just rattle it off…
…but all too often it is with little thought or meaning…as if it is some magical incantation…
…that just needs words in the air…and it is supposed to work…somehow….
It is not.
And that is why we have explanations for each petition of the Lord’s Prayer in our catechism.
That is why Jesus explains prayer after teaching this prayer. Because those words mean something.
What do you think about when you are praying?
And yes, don’t just say…don’t just repeat the words…as if you must…but do so with thought and intent.
You may have noticed that I don’t always pray it the same way each time. You may have noticed that I will emphasize different parts…pause…change the rhythm…
All so we don’t just rattle it off. Same with the Creeds.
Jesus warns us of this: 8 This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 9 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands.” [CSB][Matthew 15:8-9]
In vain means not being involved…being elsewhere…wishing to be elsewhere…thinking it really does not matter…that these things we do…and say….well…just..are…
How many wives will ask, “Honey, did you even here a word I was saying?”
“Ah…yes, dear…sure…dear…of course dear….”
Same with church. Instead, engage your mind, with concentration, with hearts…and emotions…all of it—all of you.
What do we think the Bible means when God says to:
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
?
This is the first commandment, right? And God in the Bible commands that we pray as well.
8 Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument. [CSB][1 Timothy 2:8]
And…
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. [CSB][1 Thessalonians 5:16-18]
Why? Because God wants us to ask of Him…and loves to answer…to give and provide. He does. We just have been so convinced by the devil that it all comes from somewhere else. And I mean daily stuff too…
Where does your daily bread come from? The grocery store, right? The Farmer? Your hard work? No, God’s hard work and your little part that He allows you to play in HIS CREATION!
We are so arrogant…as if we do much of anything. Not true. He supplies all we need our entire lives. And we do so little to acknowledge this…think we are the ones who got us to where we are…the things we have….
And then when we have need…when we fail…when life becomes hard…we don’t turn to Him…to the source of all things…
Because we believe the lies of the devil and our own flesh. Yet who is still willing to help…to give even when we don’t deserve to get a thing? Who?
5 He also said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I don’t have anything to offer him.’ 7 Then he will answer from inside and say, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I have gone to bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he won’t get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his friend’s shameless boldness, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
So, are you a friend of God? How about a child of the Most High? You, O baptized Christian, yes, are just that. More than A friend…a son or a daughter. So….
9 …I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
So, ask. Pray. Look to Him every day of your lives.
He is your Father because of Jesus. You have another last name. The family name of Jesus has been given to you in your adoption into His family. We are all called Christian. Of Christ. Little Christs. Jesus is our big brother and we His siblings with God the Father as our Father.
Hint…hint: Our Father, who art in Heaven…
Yes, as…
11What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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?”
That is why, when we pray, Jesus says to say…that prayer. And it is not as simplistic as you may first think. It is loaded with all the right things. So that we do pray right. How can we go wrong if we pray this prayer…other than praying it without any real sincerity.?
Yet that can be with any prayer…right?
And that is why we have explanations for each petition of the Lord’s Prayer in our catechism.
That is why Jesus explains prayer after teaching this prayer. Because those words mean something.
What do you think about when you are praying?
And yes, don’t just say…don’t just repeat the words…as if you must…but do so with thought and intent.
You may have noticed that I don’t always pray it the same way each time. You may have noticed that I will emphasize different parts…pause…change the rhythm…
As then we have the prayer book…the song book of the Bible. The Psalms. Our introit is right out of the Psalms. Lots of our liturgy too…and the Gradual. Do we think about and engage in what we are saying…repeating? Then too our hymns are from the Bible. And singing too, is really just another form of prayer.
St. Augustine of the 4th century said that “He who sings, prays twice.” So then sing with all thought, emotion…loudly and fully. Do it. The Lord commands it.
Then we have Luther’s prayers from the Catechism also…and those in our Hymnals…that can help us to pray…to teach us to pray correctly.
Prayer from the heart is fine—and sometimes our prayers when we are in the worst of places are just crying…come from deep within…good…
Yet that is only one small part of what we are to pray and how we are to pray.
We pray even for our enemies…even for those who don’t ask or want our prayers.
Yes, as what does James in His letter warn us of?
1 What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? 2 You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. [CSB][James 4:1-4]
So, what do you pray for? When do you pray? For things you ought not to pray?
What is that Janis Joplin song? “Oh, Lord please give me a Mercedes Benz.” or that other song that states, “If I only had a million dollars”?
Why not pray for your church? Pray for your neighbor who does not know Christ. Pray for this nation—that it will repent and turn from much sin. Yes, pray for a willing and forgiving heart.
But not for just us and ours…you and yours…
We may not want to—well we don’t…I mean I hear complaints about how long the church prayers are…
But we do then need God’s Word to shape our prayer…teaching us His Words. Praying what He wants us to pray about and for.
The prayer of the church each Sunday is formed around what the Bible tells us to pray for. It helps us to pray as a church for that which we would leave off in our daily prayers…like our president and governor.
So don’t complain about it. It is not too long. It covers all that God tells us to pray for…because we—me and you—will always seem to leave things out of our prayers—we do and will.
And this church prayer is not just for me to pray, you know? It is not even of my design—I did not write it—it is right from our Synod headquarters. Many of our churches are praying the same as we…with us each Sunday.
That is a great thing to be part of!
And I am commanded to lead you as a congregation to pray and to pray these things. So, add your Amen to it.
Pray with me…don’t daydream. Hear and say, “Yes, Amen. Lord, let it be so according to Your Will”–with each thing prayed for. It will go faster if your are engaged in it…listening and agreeing…in it to ask your Father in heaven for these things. You are commanded to. Do it.
Jesus tells us:
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. [CSB]][John 15:16]
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 By his own choice, he gave us birth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. [CSB][James 1:17-18]
God has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes. He has done it for you and for me. His fruits of His labor…creation…Christmas…His perfect life…the cross and then resurrection. All for us…He keeps giving—yes, even for sinners like me…and you…until eternity is ours. Yours.
Amen.
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