Core Value Prayer
“In all we say or do, we believe prayer honors God and brings comfort, power, and connection to people.”
“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” Luke 18:1
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through
wordless groans.” Romans 8:26
“God, are you there?"
Have you prayed that fox hole prayer? Have you called out in the loneliness of the night, "God, are you there?" Maybe it was the death of a parent, or divorce of your parents or death of a child, or abuse of a family member? Perhaps for you, it is an illness that will never go away. Maybe your business collapsed, or your job disappeared? Know that you are not alone in the fox hole, I am right there with you praying with you, "God, are you there?"
The Yearning of the Heart
Our hearts yearn to be free of pain. "Every person you meet today is hurting deep inside from something. Go gentle into this good day." LS. Look around the sanctuary this morning. Look at the faces that smile back at you. Not one of those faces does not have heart pain.
When the pain of the heart gets terrible enough, we will pray. Let me introduce you to Chad and Kathy Robichaux. Chad and Kathy's life work is through a foundation they created, Mighty Oaks Foundation. "Chad and his team are dedicated to helping America's Military Warriors and their families suffering from the "unseen wounds" of combat such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Their effort is on the front line to intercede and end the climbing 23 per day veteran suicide rate and the current and tragic 80% plus divorce rate."
Chad tells a story that begins with being a dedicated public servant and a police officer who responded to the call to duty post-9/11. "After eight deployments in the Afghanistan War on Terror, their family spent years recovering from the hardships associated with combat."
Chad was hell to live with. He returned home because his own PTSD had become so bad in the field that he had become useless. The same PTSD created a mindset where he made choices that fractured his family. Kathy encouraged him to do something with all of his hate, energy, and anger. So, he began martial arts and ended up being the Professional MMA World Champion. Along with being champion, came temptations to which he gave himself.
No longer living together with Chad, Kathy kept going to church with the kids. Here is the teaching point this morning. Kathy went to church and prayed. Her hate and anger toward Chad was so great that she could not pray any prayer except, "God, help me see Chad like you see Chad." For Chad's part, his anger, hatred, and loneliness drove him into a closet each evening with a pistol. For weeks he struggled to shoot himself to stop his internal pain. What the bad guys on the street or in Afghanistan or the MMA ring could not do, Chad was doing to himself. He was bringing himself to defeat. In desperation, he returned to Kathy and asked for her help. She took him to church and found a mentor for him. After a year of discipling by his mentor and having come to Christ, Chad was able to control his memories. For me, the pivot to restoration and health began in Kathy's simple prayer. "God, help me..." The prayer was simple and direct. Like the prayer, "God, are you there?" The simplicity of the prayer "God help me" does not undermine its power.
The simplest is often the best. For example, there are three simple things that all people want and need to hear. "There are three phrases people yearn to hear: "I love you," "I forgive you," and "Time for supper," Leonard Sweet. When we pray, the still quiet voice of God replies, "I love you." When we pray to layout our shame, the still soft voice of God answers, "I love you, and I forgive you." When we hunger and thirst for God, Jesus sets the table of communion with his body and blood and invites us by saying, "I love you; I forgive you; and its time for supper." Prayer is a relationship with God. The simplicity of the prayer does not undermine its power.
What do Jesus and Paul say about prayer?
Jesus and Paul teach a great deal about prayer. I am not going to record all they teach. I am sharing just a sample. Jesus teaches about prayer often; here is one significant lesson. From the Gospel of Luke 18:1-8, "Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, 'Give me justice in this case against my adversary.' For a while he refused but finally said to himself, I don't fear God or respect people, but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me." The Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. Won't God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?"
The request is simple. Pray always. Pray often. Pray today. Pray now.
The Apostle Paul wrote extensively about prayer. Here are just two examples. Research finds that "to worry" is helpful from the point of view that one feels like they are doing something. However, Paul says prayer is better. Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." Often, I hear people say, "I don't know what to pray or how to pray." No worries, Paul tells us. The Spirit will lead us. Romans 8:26, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Rather than worry, Pray always. Pray often. Pray today. Pray now. If you don't feel like you have the words, that's better; the Spirit will pray through you. Just pray. Just be in the present with God.
“Oh, God, now what?”
Therefore, we know that in all we say or do, we believe prayer honors God and brings comfort, power, and connection to people. So how do we pray? We make prayer too complicated. Just talk to God. Just talk to Jesus. "Jesus is not looking for deep insights or great thoughts from us when we pray. Jesus is just looking for us and wanting to be with us." LS
The high and mighty of our world may help us understand that low and meek may be the best prayers. "In an interview with Ireland's RTE One news and information channel (June 2013), the U2 frontman [Bono] opened up about his belief in Jesus, his prayer practice, and the way he and his wife instill religious values in their children. "I pray to get to know the will of God because then the prayers have more chance of coming true — I mean, that's the thing about prayer," Bono told interviewer Gay Byrne. "We don't do it in a very lofty way in our family. It's just a bunch of us on the bed usually, we've a very big bed in our house. We pray with all our kids; we read the Scriptures, we pray."
Years ago, I learned a simple prayer to pray. It is, “Please, God!” When you begin to pray the prayer, place a comma between the words “please” and “God.” We come to the Lord with our pain, requests, urgencies, demands, needs, wants, and desires. Pray until the comma disappears in your mind. Now, “Please God” becomes a mantra that changes the focus from “my-need” based pray to a lifestyle response where I live my life to “please God.” Pray this simple, “Please, God” prayer until the comma disappears.
Water Witness
To end with, I would like to use an illustration from natural science. Here is a “water witness” to the power of prayer. Dr. Masaru Emoto was a Japanese author, researcher, and entrepreneur who claimed that human words impact the molecular structure of water. Dr. Masaru Emoto studied the effect of words on the crystallization of water. His technique was to expose water to spoken words and prayers. He would then freeze the water and examine the crystalline structure of the water. His results were profound, often beautiful, and sometimes disturbing.
If words affect water, then how much more do prayers, affect us? We are 60% water. Words we say change us. If words affect us, how much more does prayer affect us? I can only imagine how prayer creates "the eternal" in our bodies. Make the water of your soul into beautiful crystals by practicing prayer. After all, "In all we say or do, we believe prayer honors God and brings comfort, power, and connection to people."
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