Ways to Pray

WAYS TO PRAY 

PRACTICING OUR FAITH ~ PRAYER JUDITH B. BRAIN 

TEXTS: JAMES 5:13-16 AND ROMANS 8:26 

OCTOBER 21, 2017 

SECOND CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, BEVERLY—UCC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE 

Today’s sermon topic in the series on “Practicing our Faith” is “Prayer.” Here’s a question we hear a lot. “Do you believe in prayer?” 

Hmmm, would we fill our worship with prayers if we didn’t believe in them? In this Sunday’s worship bulletin alone, there are 8 prayers if you count the hymns addressed to God as prayers set to music. 

 The book of James talks about the importance of prayer in a church community. He says we need to pray for each other. 

13 Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. 14 Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. 16 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. 

PRAYER: A CORE CHRISTIAN PRACTICE 

Prayer. In a 12 minute sermon, one can hardly crack the surface of this deep and vital Christian practice. It is one of the cornerstones of faith. It is what makes a church different from a support group or a community action network or a self improvement seminar. We want to help others, better ourselves, learn, promote justice. But we do that not only by our own efforts or with our own energy. No, we add prayer! We call on the resources of God so we can be powerful and effective.

 1. INTERCESSORY PRAYER 

Do you believe in prayer? It’s often asked with a skeptical tone. What’s behind that question? Sadly, it often means, “Do you believe that God intervenes supernaturally and changes the course of nature in order to answer prayer?” 

Well, I certainly believe in miracles. No-one could spend decades listening to the stories of prayerful Christians and not know that there is something mystical happening in the connections between human beings and God. People testify about coming through scary medical procedures with a sense of peace. They say, “I know I made it because of all the prayers that surrounded me. I felt them!” People talk about directly experiencing the “touch” of God through prayer. 

 Or there is this story: “I was so discouraged. Then out of the blue I got a note that said just the right thing and set me on the right track. It was too perfect to be coincidence. I know it was an answer to prayer.”

 Yes, we are more “soul connected” than we recognize. There is a spirit that flows among us and out of us, to each other and to strangers. That connecting essence is God. God is not “up there,” God is right here. 

And yet, all prayers are not answered the way we hope. The “healing” and “saving” and “raising up” that James promises may not mean we are restored to perfect health. I met someone recently who told me. “I lost my faith a long time ago. I prayed and prayed that my father would not have to go through chemotherapy for cancer. But he did. He got some good years, but finally he died of the disease. God didn’t answer my prayer at all. I don’t believe in prayer and I don’t believe in God.” 

THE UNEXPECTED ANSWER 

You know, how many of your wishes are granted is not a very good test of the value of prayer. Life is filled with random illness, death, pain, and losses. If you measure God’s effectiveness by how well you manage to escape these inevitabilities, God will always lose out. Nobody escapes. It’s not good theology to regard God as a fairy godmother that grants wishes or a “cosmic bellhop” as Martin Luther King names it. 

The Rolling Stones neatly summed it up. “You can’t always get what you want. But if you try some times, you just might find, you get what you need.” 

Undoubtedly, the most common form of prayer is the one we practice every Sunday. Intercessions and petitions. It’s what James encourages us to do. 

But there is more to prayer. Prayer is, at its core, coming into the presence of God. As Woody Allen says about life, the most important part is showing up. So it is with prayer. I believe in that kind of prayer too. It has nothing to do with supply and demand or asking, asking, asking. So what are some other ways to pray? 

2. LISTENING PRAYER 

Coming into God’s presence with thanksgiving doesn’t mean talking God’s ear off. Perhaps the deepest form of prayer is listening. The time we take to just be with God and listen is invaluable in determining the next step when the way is not so clear. I like that hymn, “Here I Am Lord.” It’s just about putting ourselves in a place to attend to God. Quiet listening is a too-often neglect form of prayer. 

3. PRAYER OF ADORATION 

There is also the form of prayer that seems to have no utilitarian purpose. The prayer of adoration. It’s a prayer about developing a relationship. 

I have a friend who is a Catholic priest. Every day he observes what he calls his “holy hour.” One day he showed me the place in the sanctuary where he sits before the cross. “What are you thinking about?” I asked him. “Nothing,” he said as he gestured to the crucified Christ. “I just look at him and he looks at me and we love each other.” Here I am. 

4. CONVERSATIONAL PRAYER 

“Here I am.” Prayer is mindfulness. Constantly turning the mind toward God. Constantly reminding ourselves that we are in the presence of God no matter when or where. That might be the time for conversational prayer. 

The writer Annie Lamott, has a very prosaic practice of prayer. She talks to Jesus while she drives on the L.A. freeways. From her conversation with Jesus, it sounds as if he’s buckled into the seatbelt right next to her. She might say, “You know, Jesus, I’ve been a real jerk today. That perfect mom in my son’s kindergarten class is getting on my nerves. I know I shouldn’t dislike her because she wears size 8 Calvin Kleins and makes Pokemon cookies for each kid in the class with their names written on them. But I feel jealousy taking root. I’m definitely going to need your help here.” 

“Here I am.” We can pray always—conversing with God as a friend as we goes about our work. We can even emulate the Psalmists and rage and cry and shake our fist in anger when we feel lost, abandoned, scared, and lonely. Just let go with all our negative feelings. God can take it. 

THE WORDLESS PRAYER 

One can pray wordlessly. Perhaps the most meaningful prayer of all happens when words are beyond us. When we are so distraught or depleted that we cannot think, never mind put a coherent sentence together. Would you believe that the Bible tells us then God prays for us? 

To me, one of the most hopeful and comforting Bible passages on prayer is found in Romans 8:26. 

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. 

That’s a promise to hang on to. And I do!