Sunday, October 12, 2014

Prayer - some practical suggestions

As Christians we are called to be Christ-ian, to be Christlike.

That begs the question, what is Christ like?

It’s possible to see six things that sustained Christ and enabled him to be the person he was - it is those six things that we can draw on in order to build up our Christian lives as well.

An interesting exercise to see how we are getting on in each area of the Christian life – we did a very specific thing last week and asked people to look back over the last week and just see how they are doing –

Prayer
Godly thoughts and Godly living
Relying on the Spirit
Making a difference in the world
Sharing  God’s love with others
Living out our faith every day.

Each week as we approach Advent we are going to focus on one of those six elements and share some practical things we can do in order to strengthen that element of our Christian lives.

Today, we begin with Prayer.

It’s fascinating to see the way in which you can trace the importance of prayer in the life of Jesus … nowhere is that more apparent than in Luke’s Gospel.

In Luke’s Gospel more than anywhere else he is seen drawing on prayer at key moments in his life and ministry: before his baptism (3:21),

After all the people had been baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my own dear Son. I am pleased with you.”

 just before he comes face to face with those Jewish leaders he opposes (5:16),

But the news about Jesus spread all the more widely, and crowds of people came to hear him and be healed from their diseases. 16But he would go away to lonely places, where he prayed.

before choosing the Twelve Disciples (6:12),

At that time Jesus went up a hill to pray and spent the whole night there praying to God. When day came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he named apostles:

before he shares with those close friends the inevitability of his suffering and death (9:18). 

One day when Jesus was praying alone, the disciples came to him. “Who do the crowds say I am?” he asked them.  19“Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
20“What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are God's Messiah.”

21Then Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. 22He also said to them, “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life.”

Jesus is seen at prayer on the mountain top when his ministry is endorsed by Moses and Elijah (9:29),

While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, 31who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfil God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem.

before he shared with his disciples his insights into prayer (11:1),

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

in the Garden of Gethsemane (22:41)

Then he went off from them about the distance of a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed.  42 “Father,” he said, “if you will, take this cup of suffering away from me. Not my will, however, but your will be done.”

and on the cross (23:46). 

Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father! In your hands I place my spirit!” He said this and died.

At the last supper John records a very special prayer of Jesus (John 17). 

After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your Son, so that the Son may give glory to you.
2 For you gave him authority over all humanity, so that he might give eternal life to all those you gave him.
3 And eternal life means knowing you, the only true God, and knowing Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
4 I have shown your glory on earth; I have finished the work you gave me to do.
5 Father! Give me glory in your presence now, the same glory I had with you before the world was made.
6 “I have made you known to those you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me. They have obeyed your word,
7 and now they know that everything you gave me comes from you.
8 I gave them the message that you gave me, and they received it; they know that it is true that I came from you, and they believe that you sent me.
9 “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those you gave me, for they belong to you.
10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine; and my glory is shown through them.
11 And now I am coming to you; I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world. Holy Father! Keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one just as you and I are one.
12 While I was with them, I kept them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me. I protected them, and not one of them was lost, except the man who was bound to be lost — so that the scripture might come true.
13 And now I am coming to you, and I say these things in the world so that they might have my joy in their hearts in all its fullness.
14 I gave them your message, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
15 I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but I do ask you to keep them safe from the Evil One.
16 Just as I do not belong to the world, they do not belong to the world.
17 Dedicate them to yourself by means of the truth; your word is truth.
18 I sent them into the world, just as you sent me into the world.
19 And for their sake I dedicate myself to you, in order that they, too, may be truly dedicated to you.
20 “I pray not only for them, but also for those who believe in me because of their message.
21 I pray that they may all be one. Father! May they be in us, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they be one, so that the world will believe that you sent me.
22 I gave them the same glory you gave me, so that they may be one, just as you and I are one:
23 I in them and you in me, so that they may be completely one, in order that the world may know that you sent me and that you love them as you love me.
24 “Father! You have given them to me, and I want them to be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, the glory you gave me; for you loved me before the world was made.
25 Righteous Father! The world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you sent me.
26 I made you known to them, and I will continue to do so, in order that the love you have for me may be in them, and so that I also may be in them.”

It is this wonderfully close relationship in prayer that Jesus has with his Father that prompts his disciples to ask Jesus to show them how to pray (Luke 11:1-13)

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
2 Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this: ‘Father: May your holy name be honoured; may your Kingdom come. 3 Give us day by day the food we need.
4 Forgive us our sins, for we forgive everyone who does us wrong. And do not bring us to hard testing.’ ”
5 And Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you should go to a friend's house at midnight and say, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.
6 A friend of mine who is on a journey has just come to my house, and I haven't got any food for him!’
7 And suppose your friend should answer from inside, ‘Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can't get up and give you anything.’
8 Well, what then? I tell you that even if he will not get up and give you the bread because you are his friend, yet he will get up and give you everything you need because you are not ashamed to keep on asking.
9 “And so I say to you: ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
10 For all those who ask will receive, and those who seek will find, and the door will be opened to anyone who knocks.
11 Would any of you who are fathers give your son a snake when he asks for fish?
12 Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
13 Bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him

 As you read through the story of Jesus, especially as Luke tells it, but also in the other Gospels as well you cannot help but sense that prayer was fundamentally important to Jesus – it was more than anything what sustained him in the life he led, the ministry he shared, in all he did.

I want to home in on one of those moments – and I want to turn to Mark’s Gospel for his account of what happened – and so we turn to Mark 14:32-36 and what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane.

They came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”
33 He took Peter, James, and John with him. Distress and anguish came over him,
34 and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch.”
35 He went a little farther on, threw himself on the ground, and prayed that, if possible, he might not have to go through that time of suffering.
36 “Father,” he prayed, “my Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

I just want you to share with the person next to you – what impresses you most about this passage?

In the workbook that Karen has shared with us for these few Sundays  [James Bryan Smith with Lynda Graybeal,  A Spiritual Formation Workbook – a Renovaré Resource for Spiritual Renewal)  the writers draw our attention to verse 36.

First, Jesus has a complete confidence in God

All things are possible for you

Second, Jesus is absolutely honest in his prayer …

Take this cup of suffering away from me.

Third, Jesus puts himself completely into God’s hands and wants simply to do the will of God

Yet not what I want, but what you want.”


So, if we are to be Christ-like what practical things could we do this coming week to strengthen our prayer life?

  1. Set aside five to ten minutes each day for prayer: read and reflect on a Bible verse, simply talk with God … and in silence, listen.

  1. Spend five to ten minutes each day in silence – as very close friends can communicate without words, so too in silence we can be in the presence of God.

  1. Pray the same prayer for ten minutes each day: ‘the idea is to focus our thoughts on God so that God can enter our heart.   See below.

  1. Try the Lectio Divina approach described by Angela Ashwin in “Woven into Prayer”

Quieten yourself with a few deep breaths.



Reading: read a short passage slowly and notice any words that catch your attention

Meditation: stay with those words and repeat them peacefully to yourself aloud or in your mind and reflect on what God is saying through this text.

Verbal Response: in response talk to God in whatever way you want.

Contemplation: move into quiet communion with God, resting in his presence, coming back to those words.


Faithful One, so Unchanging

On the order of service sheet I have suggested a number of passages that you might use to do this simple reflection …

Psalms: 23, 46, 100
any or all the verses
Promises of Jesus
Matthew 11:28-30
Mark 10:45
Luke 15:24
John 14:27
Words of Blessing
Romans 11:33,36
2 Corinthians 1:3,4
Ephesians 3:18-19
Philippians 4:4-7 or 8-9
The Jesus Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

We are going to select one of those and do a very simple Lectio Divina exercise. Using the guidelines in Angela Ashwin, Woven into Prayer


First, sit comfortably – and then take some deep breaths in your own time – breathing out, and breathing in.

Reading

As I read the words of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 listen out for any particular words that catch your attention.  “See if any word leaps out at you, or seems to be particularly apt for you today.  Try not to analyse it – there will be a chance for that later.


Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the merciful Father, the God from whom all help comes!
He helps us in all our troubles,
so that we are able to help others who have all kinds of troubles,
using the same help that we ourselves have received from God.

Meditation: stay with those words and repeat them peacefully to yourself aloud or in your mind and reflect on what God is saying through this text.  “Allow the word or phrase to find its way to your inner being.”

Verbal Response: in response talk to God in whatever way you want, in response to what has been offered to you.

Contemplation: move into quiet communion with God, resting in his presence, gently coming back to those words whenever your mind wanders.

Put all those things into the hands of God – not what I want, but what you want.  In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.





Hymn What a friend we have in Jesus





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