Ask, Seek, Knock

(Scriptures: Hosea 1:2-10, Psalm 85,
Colossians 2:6-19, Luke 11:1-13)

Our reading from Luke’s Gospel is a continuation of the sequence of readings from the past two Sundays. Remember two weeks ago, we heard the parable of the Good Samaritan, and learned the importance of being very inclusive in our definition of “who is our neighbor.” Last week we learned the importance of maintaining a balance between prayer and work, that before we can love our neighbor, we need to take time to wait on the Lord, that our strength may be renewed and that we may be receptive of God’s guidance.

Today’s reading continues on the theme of prayer. The disciples, having just watched Jesus in prayer, asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus’ response is what we know as the Lord’s prayer, though the version we will pray in a few minutes is taken from Matthew’s version from the sermon on the mount, which we find in the 6th chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. This is essentially Jesus’ model prayer for his disciples. We can learn so much from it, so I’d like to take a few minutes to consider it – and I’ll use the more familiar language from Matthew.

First of all, it’s very short, and the words are very simple. Jesus’ said elsewhere that we don’t have to try to impress God with our eloquence, our lofty words, our long series of petitions – for God knows what we truly need before we ask. The first two words – “Our Father” – set the tone for the rest of the prayer. Note – “Our” – not “My”. Following Jesus is not just about “Jesus and me” or “My” needs or “My Father, but not your Father” – we are a community of believers. When we pray, we need to remember others. So we use the word “Our”. And “Father.” The tradition of the day was that God was so holy, so unapproachable, that the divine name could not even be pronounced by ordinary people. And while I don’t want us to lose sight of the reality that God is indeed holy, and wholly different from us, wholly “other” - yet God graciously allows us to call on God as “Father”. As “Our Father” – “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed by thy name – holy is your name. Your kingdom come – Luke stops here, but Matthew tells us explicitly what “your kingdom come” means – your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God, may you reign on earth as completely as you do in heaven, with no thought of rebellion against your will. Give us this day our daily bread. Again, not “give me my bread” but “give us our bread”. And that word “daily” – trusting that each day God will provide for our needs, so that we don’t need to hoard – as God provided daily manna for the Israelites in the wilderness, so God will provide for us each day. “Forgive us our sins” – recognition that we have sinned and need forgiveness, but that is linked inseparably to the words “as we forgive those who sin against us.” To be forgiven, we must be forgiving. And “Lead us not into temptation” – for God knows how powerless we are to resist – “and deliver us from evil.” Luke stops here, but Matthew goes on with words of praise to God “For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, now and forever.” And the word “Amen” meaning “may it be so.”

Then Jesus went on to tell them the parable of the friend at midnight – if you went to your friend’s house at midnight and asked him for bread, he may refuse at first. But if you’re persistent and keep knocking, you’ll get the bread you ask for, even though your friend may not be very gracious in giving it to you. Jesus tells them that they should, in the same way, persist in their prayers.

“Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened to you.” It sounds easy – so easy. And yet we all know prayers that have seemingly gone unanswered – people suffering grave illness, people out of work for long periods – especially in this economy, people suffering family turmoil, whose situations, despite being lifted up repeatedly in prayer, did not improve.

When our prayers seemingly aren’t answered, it probably appropriate to do some discernment about our request. We may pray for something obviously unworthy – for example, we may pray for God to send a lightning bolt to strike an enemy or rival. Or, like the late Janis Joplin, we pray, “O Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz…..” After some discernment we may discover things to pray for that are more in tune with God’s will. Prayer and magical thinking aren’t the same thing. As the saying goes, be careful what you ask for, you may get it. Sometimes the greatest gifts God gives us is the things we asked for, that we didn’t receive.

But the prayer requests I mentioned earlier – prayers for healing, for gainful employment, for family harmony – are all worthwhile prayer requests. In these cases, like the friend at midnight, Jesus asks us to persist, to be a nudge, to keep on praying. From James chapter 5: The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest. Or, in another example from church history, we’re told that in early years, Augustine lived a dissolute life - the proverbial life of wine, women and song. Augustine’s mother, Monica, prayed for Augustine’s conversion for years on end before he was finally converted – and he went on to become a great saint of the church. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.

We may need to keep our eyes open to see the answers to prayer God may be sending. If we have very specific ideas about what an answer to prayer may look like, we may miss the very real answer to prayer that God sends. There’s the old joke about the drowning man who prayed for God to rescue him. A boat came by, but the man waved the boat off, saying he had prayed to God, and was waiting for God to rescue him. Another boat came by – same response, the man waved the boat off, saying that he had prayed to God, and was waiting for God to rescue him. A helicopter came by, and the man gave the same response – thanks for the offer, but I prayed to God, and I’m waiting for God to save me. Eventually the man drowned. At the pearly gates he asked God why God didn’t answer his prayer and rescue him. God replied, “I did answer your prayer. I sent two boats and a helicopter to rescue you…what else did you want from me?” In the same way, God’s answer to prayer may not look like what we expect. In fact, God’s answer to prayer may not be what we had in mind. Or, on the other hand, God’s answer may be for us to make use what we already have available. For example, we pray often for this church to grow. It’s possible, but not likely, that God will lead 50 families from the Pittsburgh area, with children of all ages, to move across the state, buy homes in Bridesburg, and start clamoring for a UCC church to join within walking distance of their new homes. It could happen – but I’m not holding my breath. What’s far more likely is that God will answer our prayers for this church to grow, by giving us courage to invite our friends and neighbors. We may find that we had what we needed all along, but we needed God to open our eyes to the resources we already had available.

It has also been said that while God answers prayer, God does not always say yes. Sometimes God says “Wait” – your request is right on target, but the timing isn’t yet right. Sometimes, if God knows what we ask for will ultimately harm us or others, God will say no. And sometimes God will say, “no, but here’s something better.”

Remember how our reading from Luke’s gospel ends – Jesus tells his listeners, “If you, as bad as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to all who ask. As St Paul says in Romans 8: “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.” God’s Holy Spirit, God within us, will guide us so that, as we are conformed more and more into Christ’s image, that our prayers will not be so much about trying to badger God into doing our will, but rather to pray that our will will line up more closely with God’s will. Or as the Lord’s Prayer goes, “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.”

I think many of us lose sight of how deeply and how passionately we are loved by God. Again, remember, it is Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who calls us to address God as “Our Father”. These days, even that image may be problematic – depending on our family situation, the word “father” may conjure up visions of an absentee father whom we rarely saw, or an abusive father whom we dreaded seeing. But God is not that kind of father. For some of us, God may be the loving father we never had in our earthly families. In fact, as in our Old Testament reading from Hosea today, God is always ready to claim people as God’s own, who thought of themselves as “Not God’s people,” to meet people who think of themselves as “Not God’s children” and call them “Children of the Living God.”

“Children of the Living God” – that’s what God calls us. Beloved children, not stepchildren – beloved children, not orphans. May we at Emanuel Church always be willing to bring our prayers to the Living God, to pray, to persist – and to experience God’s blessings, today and every day. Amen.
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You're welcome to knock on the door of Emanuel United Church of Christ and seek God's presence. We're on Fillmore Street (off Thompson) and we worship on Sundays at 10 a.m. www.emanuelphila.org