Luke 11:5-13 McHenry UMC
As we start talking today about what we can
Or should pray for,
I want to begin as I did last week—
With the words of a song.
A song about prayer.
It goes something like this:
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Lord, won't you buy me a color TV?
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town?
I'm counting on you, Lord, please don't let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh Lord, won't you buy me a night on the town?
We laugh.
We know that somehow this song
Can’t be quite serious.
That what it’s asking for isn’t quite right.
We shouldn’t ask for those sorts of things—
For a Mercedes.
For a color TV.
Certainly not for a night on the town.
Should we?
What should we pray for?
What should we ask God for
When we pray?
This sounds like such a simple question.
And if you were to ask some kids
Who’ve actually thought about it,
They’d probably say
“you can ask God for anything.”
Several years ago
I bought a book called “Dear God: Children’s Letters to God.”
I love reading it.
I can’t help but smile and laugh
When I scan through these notes to God.
They are so full of open-eyed honesty.
Kids just being kids.
Although they take the format of letters to God,
As the name suggests,
Quite a few of them are actually requests
That the kids ask of God—
They are prayers.
Here’s a few of the better ones:
Dear God,
My dad got laid off last week. Please help him find work quick. He bugs us a lot when he is home.
Thank you, Martin (age 8)
Dear God,
Do you have an extra plague for my sister? Like you did to the Egyptians.
Stanley (age 8)
Dear God,
Are you in charge of babies? I have three sisters, which is good. But I would like to put in an order for a brother. I hope this special order won’t upset you.
Love, Stuart (age 9)
Dear God. God of Justice.
I hate to bother you, but there’s this kid. His name is Billy Forte. He’s always bothering me and being mean. He tried to steal my glove. Can you rub him out!!
Sorry to bug you, John (age 8)
Dear God,
My baseball team went 5 and 15 last year. That means we lost 15 times. I hurt a lot about this. Please say a prayer about this.
Thanks, Kevin (age 9)
My friend Sam is on the team too. He’s nice but he strikes out a lot.
Dear God,
I have doubts about you sometimes. Sometimes I really believe. Like when I was four and I hurt my arm and you healed it up fast. But my question is, if you could do this why don’t you stop all the bad in the world? Like war. Like diseases. Like famine. Like drugs. And there are problems in other people’s neighborhoods too.
I’ll try to believe more, Ian (age 10)
To whom it may concern,
I want to believe in you real hard. But I don’t know how. My mom does but my dad does not. How can I know for sure? Why don’t you make things easier? It would be nice. Nothing special. You don’t have to part the sea or nothing. Just something easy. Like have me turn 13 sooner.
Joan. (age 12)
Aren’t those wonderful?
These are so delightfully honest.
These kids are bringing their joys to God.
They’re sharing their concerns.
They tell God when they want help with their troubles.
They ask God to send a spare plague on their sister
And to rub out the local bully—
Prayers that,
If we were perfectly honest with ourselves,
We’d probably like to send up to God
More than we’d like anyone to know.
They even express their doubts
And their struggles.
It all seems so simple
When you read or listen to the prayers of children.
But we adults have to make everything
Far more complicated than it needs to be.
When you’re an adult,
Life is more complicated.
But that doesn’t mean everything
HAS to be complicated.
Consider this:
Rev. David Mains has comprised a list of questions
To help us evaluate whether or not something
That we are thinking about praying for or about
Is a legitimate thing to take to God in prayer.
1. What do I really want? Am I being specific or am I just rambling about nothing in particular?
2. Can God grant this request? Or is it against God’s nature to do so?
3. Have I done my part? Or am I praying to lose weight when I haven’t dieted?
a. Frederick Douglas said, “I prayed for 20 years but received no answer until I prayed with my feet.
4. How is my relationship with God? Are we on speaking terms?
a. Satchel Paige said in 1974, “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”
5. Who will get the credit if my request is granted?
6. Do I really want my prayer answered?
Now, I’ll admit that there is some wisdom
In Rev. Mains’ list.
These ARE questions that we should ask ourselves.
BUT….
If we actually tried to put this into practice,
Wouldn’t it get a little cumbersome?
I sit down for my prayer time
With my cup of coffee—always necessary—
My Bible,
My copy of “When You Pray”
And an index card on which I’ve copied
Rev. Mains’ 6 questions.
Can you imagine going through
Each of the 6 questions for every item
That I’m considering lifting up to God?
I’d spend a lot of time in prayer,
Which would be a good thing,
But…would I be praying
Or running down a checklist?
That’s too complicated.
You know,
The words of Jesus often challenge us.
They stretch our minds and our spirits.
They push us to look at life and faith
In new ways,
Often uncomfortable ways.
Sometimes his words leave us
Scratching our heads
Wondering what in the world he’s talking about!
Back before we sent Bible Study south for the winter,
I gave my scholars some homework
To consider one of those kind of comments from Jesus.
But other times,
Other wonderful times,
Jesus says something
That is clear and concise.
He gets right to the point
And we can get it!
I love those times,
Don’t you?
Yes! I get it!
When it comes to prayer,
Jesus keeps it simple.
He doesn’t confuse us
With statements we struggle to understand.
Let’s look again at verses 9-13:
‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 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!’
It’s all right there,
And it’s pretty clear and simple.
Ask—
What do you need from God?
Not what I want,
But what I need.
Seek—
Is there something you’ve lost—
Are you looking for peace
Or strength,
Or consolation,
Or faith?
Is something you cannot find?
Is there a hole somewhere in your life
That you haven’t found anything to fill it with?
Knock—
Is there something blocking your way?
What obstacles are you confronting in your life
That you just can’t seem to find a way through,
Or around,
Or over?
Jesus also tells us
That we need to be persistent in our praying.
We can’t just toss it up there once
And then forget about it
Until we get an answer.
We’ve got to keep at it.
Apparently in the Greek,
Ask, seek, knock
Are in a tense that means
Keep on:
Keep on asking.
Keep on seeking.
Keep on knocking.
Don’t give up.
Keep at it.
And if we are persistent in our asking,
God will give us an answer.
It may not be the answer we wanted—
We’ll get to that in a couple of weeks.
But Jesus promises that God WILL answer us.
While we may not get what we want,
Jesus assures us that
We won’t get what we don’t ask for—
We won’t get a snake
When we’ve asked for a fish.
Nor will God give us anything
That harms us—
A scorpion
Instead of the egg we wanted.
Ultimately what God WILL give us,
Is better than anything
We can think to ask for—
the Holy Spirit.
Which is nothing more nor less
Than God’s presence with us?
God promises that if we pray
Pray stubbornly
Pray persistently
That God will give us the greatest gift he has
To give us—
Himself,
His presence right there with us,
Right HERE with us,
While we are asking
And looking
And knocking.
What more can we ask for?
What more can we need?
What more can we want
Than to have God with us?
You see,
When you boil it all down,
That’s the criteria that we should use
To decide whether or not something is appropriate
To take to God in prayer.
In asking it
Are we inviting God
To come and be with us?
God, I’m lonely, I need you with me.
God, I’m weak, I need your strength.
God, I’m tired, I need your rest.
God, I can’t make it up that mountain,
I need you to take my hand
And lead me.
God, my body’s hungry,
I need you to help me find
A way to get something to eat.
God, I need a job.
I need you to open a door,
A window,
A crawl space for me.
God, I’m so happy,
Something wonderful happened!
I want to share it with you!
God, I’m in love.
Let me tell you about her.
See how it works?
In our prayers,
In each thing we pray for and about
We must be asking God
To come closer
And be a part of our lives.
THAT’S what we need to be praying for,
No matter what we perceive
Our needs or our wants to be.
God with us each moment,
Every day.
Next week,
We’ll talk about praying
Not for ourselves,
But for someone else.