Creekside Church Sermon of October 19, 2003 "Practicing the Presence" Luke 11:1-13 Psalm 63:1-7	Ginny Haney
Send this sermon to a friend

How many of you would take your car to a mechanic that only worked on cars every one in a while? How many of you would go to a surgeon who only operated every now and then? Or, Twig, would work for a surgeon that didn't practice very often? OK - how many of you would go to a church where the people prayed only on Sundays, as it is printed for them in the bulletin?

Now, obviously, the disciples were not trained in discipleship when, they were called by Jesus. They got what you might call on the job training. They were very aware of the intensity of the spirit of Jesus - he often went off to pray by himself. So, Luke tells us that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. We all know how he responded. I feel that Jesus was probably ecstatic that the disciples wanted to share in this wondrous sacrament. But, in reality, we all know that it is not as black and white as it is on the cover of your bulletin today.

I worked once with a gal named Rita. When Rita first came to work for me, there was something about her that I couldn't put my finger on - a quality that drew me to her and obviously others were drawn to her as well. It didn't take me too long to figure out what was different about Rita. She prayed. I mean she prayed. She prayed about everything, every time, everywhere and she made no secret about it. After just 18 months of employment, Rita was voted by the employees, at the annual Christmas dinner, to receive the award that went to the person that most embodied the service aspect of the company. Rita was so grounded in prayer people were drawn to her and as a result, ultimately to God. I know for a fact that she draws people to her church on a regular basis.

Pastor David urged us last week to be disciples of the church rather than members. And it is imperative to be grounded in our own faith so strongly if we are to have a vital, active church. Just as you wouldn't go to a doctor who didn't practice his or her skills, you aren't likely to go to a church where the people don't practice the habits that connect them to God.

I have so many books about prayer on my bookshelves that to look at them, one would think I was an expert. All of the ideas I've encountered are jumbled up in my head. In all honesty, I guess maybe I really have been looking for "the answer" - the one that will tell me just how to pray and how to get my prayers answered. But believe me, all that reading doesn't really cause the praying to be perfected. If you read a cookbook every day, but never stepped foot inside the kitchen to actually practice what you've read, in all likelihood, you wouldn't be a good cook. The same holds true with prayer. One might assume that just because someone goes to church, they pray. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

And even more unfortunate is that too many people profess that they don't know how to pray. Sure, we were all taught, "God is great" and "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" as children. But do we really know how to pray? Michael Foss says :

We know how to share our needs with people who care about us and can help us, how to give and receive information, how to ask for things, how to express gratitude, how to say we are sorry and ask for forgiveness, how to say what's important to us and, perhaps most important, how to speak words of love and delight to those in whom we love and delight. And we know how to listen to others when they speak in similar ways to us. Prayer is simply doing what we already know how to do, but with God as the one to whom we speak and to whom we listen.

All those books I read…they gave me lots of directions…and I've tried most of them. Although some of the ideas that have stuck in my head have been helpful, it is when I really open up to what is in my heart that gets to the core of my communication with God. And that is all prayer really is - communication: In other words, a two-way, dialogue, one listener and one speaker. But, for years, I was the speaker and never did any listening. I tended to offer up my spiritual shopping list for God to look over and let him take it from there. I would fold my hands, Shout to the Lord, and wait. And wait. And wait. And then wonder why I felt so unfulfilled in my prayer life. But what I've learned over the years is that all the book learning in the world does not really substitute for true, open, honest, trusting communion with God. And the big trick is to get so that conversation with God is as natural and expected as conversation among family and friends.

We all experience different needs at different times. So, the kind of prayer that is helpful to us today, may not be helpful tomorrow. The kind of prayer that Sue needs is not the kind of prayer Ted needs. The important thing is to be in the presence - open and receptive - all the time. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 says," Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Pray continually - verse 17 - it even gets its own verse. So, obviously, if we pray continually, we are going to be praying about a lot of different things over the course of time. Some days, even minute by minute.

As a church, we respond to the needs of others with prayer. We've already done that this morning with our prayers of intercession. We use our words, our emotions our desire to shape the form of these prayers. In Luke 11, Jesus encourages us to ask, seek and knock. "For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

But, all too often, we feel confused about praying for others. Marjorie Thompson says,

"Often our prayers are not answered in the way we desire or expect. We pray for healing and it does not come, pray for peace and conflict increases. We wonder whether God does not will the good we intend by our prayers, or if perhaps we are not praying rightly. We feel guilty that we do not have enough faith, and we feel angry that evil and suffering are allowed to destroy so much peace and happiness. Sometimes prayer seems to us the feeblest and least desirable option, but the only one left under the circumstances."

Two perceptions that might help us with this are: 1. In prayer we join our hearts in love, with Christ, the great Intercessor. We give our will to the will of Christ and leave the results to him. 2. In prayer we become aware of God's presence with us and of the Holy Spirit already praying in us, so we do not bring specific prayers, but try to attune and entrust ourselves to the presence and inward prayer.

This is a major step I have made in my prayer life lately. Instead of praying for something specific, I just offer up the individual or situation up into the light of God's love and let God be God. Who am I to interfere with what the Holy Spirit is already at work doing?

I often wonder if as a church, we shouldn't include times for prayer in all the activities of the church. On this week's calendar, we have choir practice. Why not prayer practice? Ministry commission is meeting this week. Why not a prayer commission? Why not a prayer board as a well as a church board? We had a walk a couple of weeks ago for CROP. Why not a prayer walk? The youth are going trick or treating for the Food Bank. Why not a prayer bank? The only way that prayer is going to show clearly in the life of the church is if it IS the life of the church.

So many common practices in the church, or just in the world, can be counted as prayer. Music is prayer. Beethoven once said that music is a fuller way to God than words. And in our singing, we combine the wonder of our words with the beauty of the music. Turn to page 418 in your Blue Hymnal. The words of this song are a simple and beautiful way to open ourselves to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let's pray verse one together. - I rarely sing this song without feeling as though I've just prayed.

Sound - nature - simple objects such as the fountain and candle on the worship center today - can facilitate prayer. It gives us a focus that draws us to God. The object itself is not the focus, but especially in contemplative prayer, it aims to draw us past words and images to where God dwells.

Scripture can be prayer. The Psalm that Lisa read was a beautiful expression of a prayer of praise. Open your pew bibles to Psalm 139. Many scriptures can be turned into prayer by simply asking God to speak to us through them. This is a Psalm that I often include parts of in my prayer time. Let us pray together verses 1-10.

Contemplative prayer moves our prayers from our heads to our hearts. Marjorie Thompson says:

…this means moving from a limited and partial dimension of our lives to the center of our whole being. Prayers of the heart are typified by short phrases. They are repeated first on the lips and then in the mind until they take on a life of their own deep within us. When such prayers become embedded in our life awareness and daily activity, they have truly become "heart prayers."

One of the oldest of these prayers is known as the "Jesus Prayer." The long form is, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The short form is "Lord, have mercy." Or kyrie eleison. Turn to page 152 in your blue hymnal. Let us pray this phrase together - sing it twice through, then hum it once. Then we will have a few moments of silence and allow the prayer to move from our head to our heart.

Silence can be the ultimate means of communicating with God through prayer. But, as alluring as silence is to us, we also find that we a re afraid of silence. Tilden Edwards of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation, says of silence:

We fear its lack of boundaries and its seeming emptiness. We don't know if we can trust what will happen if we let go into it; we wonder if there will be anything left of us if we fully join the silence.

Thus we have a tendency to become very noisy inside to compensate for the silence outside….Being still before God is the enduring stance of prayer, that which lasts when all the words and other sounds inside are exhausted.

I find it difficult to stop the chatter in my head and let God in. All too often, I revert to that closed handed stance that doesn't allow God's word to be heard. Instead, I try, and encourage you also to try, the open handed stance. One of allowing ourselves to become truly silent, truly open in silence to what God is trying to say to me.

In a few moments, we will sing "Spirit of the Living God" as we practiced earlier. After singing through once, and singing and signing once, just sign the words in silence, then, let God's presence fill your consciousness and simply rest in this presence. You do not need to feel the need to speak, just be with. Let yourself be like a child cradled in the lap of a wonderful parent; or perhaps gently supported in an ocean of light; or enfolded in a peaceful warmth. Let yourself be held in God's tender embrace, rest and soak up the love that holds you.

All of the sermons that have appeared in text form on our Web Site since August 1996 are available here in the On-Line version. Use the search engine below to find the sermon you want. You may search by date, sermon title, or content. The sermons are full-text searchable.

Sermon Search:



Exact phrase    All words (AND)    Any word (OR)