James 4:7-8
Living Out Generosity: Prayers
Preached Sunday, September 10
When we join a local United Methodist Church, we make vows to faithfully serve God by being generous with our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. Last week we explored what it means to be generous with our presence. To put it simply, to show up. To show up for God: to intentionally set aside time to just be in God’s presence. And to show up for our neighbors: to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.
We are continuing on with our sermon series on these membership vows and how we live them out in a spirit of generosity - knowing that they are all interconnected. And as we begin to live out one or more of them with intentional generosity, the others will also follow.
Which brings to today when we focus on our membership vow to faithfully and generously give of our prayers. This may seem like the most basic of our vows, or the easiest, most instinctual for someone following the Christian life. And a generous prayer life does lay a fertile foundation for generosity in the other areas to grow and flourish. And, I think part of the problem is we often assume prayer is this basic thing, this instinctual thing - but for many people, it’s not. We don’t know how to tackle it, we fear we aren’t doing it right, it gets blown out of proportion and we so often over-complicate it. As our Scripture from Romans says, “We don’t know how to pray as we ought…” And I don’t think that’s a shaming thing - it’s more like, an acknowledgement, that even from the time of Paul to now, people struggle with prayer. So today we are going to try and take a simple and practical approach to prayer. I do think we could spend a whole year preaching on different aspects of prayer and different ways to approach it. I don’t want to diminish the broadness of prayer, I don’t want to erase the complexities and nuances of prayer - what I do want to attempt to do is present prayer as an access, a bridge, a doorway to God with no barriers in the way. Something simple, easy, and accessible enough that prayer can become a part of all of our lives, enriching our relationships with God and one another.
That’s the most straight-forward way to talk about prayer - that is relational and two-fold. First, prayer shapes our relationship with God. Second, prayer shapes our relationships with each other.
Let’s look at the first:
In the book of James, these words of wisdom come to us: Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you. Many may read this as a contingent statement. IF we draw near to God THEN God will draw near to us. I would say, however, that this is not a contingent statement but a consequential one. When we make the effort to be closer to God then the natural consequence of that action, the outcome of that action, is that we are closer to God. As simple as that.
Prayer forms the foundation of our relationship with God. If we want to have a relationship with God, if we want God to draw near to us then we need prayer. If we want to have a deep and rich relationship with God then we need a deep and rich prayer life. If I were to simply define prayer I would define it as drawing near to the presence of God. To draw near to God, that implies action on our part. Acting on a desire to be closer to God. I want to highlight prayer as acting on a desire. So often when we talk about prayer or intentionally working on our faith, we frame it in “shoulds.” I should pray more. I should be more intentional about spending time with God. I should go to church more. I should, should, should… Shoulds come from a place of shame and I don’t think shoulds get us anywhere. God doesn’t want our shoulds. God wants our desires. I catch myself thinking in “shoulds” a lot and have been intentional about re-framing them as wants. I want to pray more. I want to be more intentional about spending time with God. I want to draw near to God.
God is always present with us, God is always as near to us as our next breath. What sets prayer apart from simply being is when we make a conscious effort to act on our desire to be with God: to stay in God’s presence, to orient ourselves - our hearts, our souls, our minds, our bodies - toward the Divine. Every Sunday when I walk down the aisle of the sanctuary, come up here to lead us in worship, I pause for just a moment at the altar. I take a deep breath and I say to myself “pivot.” To pivot my mind and body away from everything else, the worries, the conversations, what I experienced before worship, what I have awaiting after - I pivot away from that, and pivot towards God. At the most basic level, this is what prayer is. To pivot ourselves toward God.
Initially, we may have to practice this pivoting, this drawing near to God. To make that shift in our minds and hearts to make ourselves aware that we are in God’s presence. For some it comes easier than others but prayer is a skill that we can develop, to learn, to form into a habit. When we do this regularly, prayer can become like second nature for us. We can orient ourselves more easily towards God and become aware of God’s presence around us and draw ourselves into it with less exertion. Prayer takes practice! This is what I believe we are called to do, to pray without ceasing, as the writer of Thessalonians says - and in order to get there, we have to make the conscious effort to orient ourselves towards God over and over. Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg says this about prayer, “You must get up from your routines & your busyness and take a step toward engaging the sacred. You need to make the choice to move your body, your will, into the direction of prayer.”
So when we desire to be in the presence of God, when we actively choose to draw closer to God...now what? It is here that I believe prayer can take many forms. Our words, either spoken or thought, our breathing, our laughter, our tears - all these things can be seen as prayer when we are aware that we give them in the presence of God. I already quoted from our Romans Scripture this morning that we do not pray as we ought. The full quote is: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with groanings too deep for words. And God, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Our sighs can be our prayers. Whatever we have to offer God in that space where we have intentionally drawn near to God, the Spirit intercedes, receiving our prayers in all their forms.
I am not going to delve deeper into what those forms can look like. Some talk out loud, some go for walks and give God their thoughts, some journal, some breath, some talk in the car, some create lists of people they are praying for, some use books of written prayers - part of the practice of prayer becoming a habit, a rhythm, part of your life, is finding the method that works for you.
The act of prayer is deeply intimate. If prayer is what shapes our relationship with God, it has to be. If we long to have an intimate relationship with God, we must engage in the vulnerable act of prayer. When we are before God in prayer we are bared - God knows every part of us - and offers us grace and loves us deeply. Whatever we have within us, we are called to actively bring it before God - in whatever form it takes, God receives it as prayer. And, as in any relationship, bringing our listening heart before God is important as well.
So - as we draw near to God, as we consciously act to orient ourselves so that we are aware of God’s presence around us, God also draws near to us. That is, God is always ready to receive our prayers. God is always with us - God is only ever as far away as our next breath. And yet, we are so often unaware. When we enter into a space of prayer, all of a sudden we are aware that God has been right there all along, extending out a hand, inviting us into relationship, into conversation, into love this whole time. And through praying, through pivoting, through drawing near, over and over again, we build a deep and rich relationship with God and we become more aware of God’s presence with us throughout our lives.
Prayer is the act, more than any other, that shapes our relationship with God. Our relationship with God then shapes every other aspect of our lives.
Prayer is two-fold, because it shapes our relationships with each other as well. We promise each other in our baptismal and membership vows to pray for each other. More than that, we say that to each other week after week. If we aren’t actively praying for each other, then why do we have a prayer chain or a prayer list? Too often churches call that the gossip train - and if we are not praying for each other when we look at those emails, when we see the names on the list - then that’s what it is. But. If we are praying for each other, it is something else entirely, it is building relationships with each other.
When we pray for someone, it changes how we see them. It is hard to pray for someone and to not see them as children of God. Jesus even tells us to pray for our enemies. It’s hard. And it doesn’t excuse actions that people do that hurt others - and it causes us to pause and realize that God cares for each and every one of us. As we pray for each other, our relationships are changed.
A quick testament by a show of hands: have you ever had a relationship change - grow stronger, heal, or be born - because of prayer?
By another show of hands: have you ever felt the power of others praying for you?
And, by show of hands, have you ever been compelled to action - to seek reconciliation, to lend a helping hand, to change a behavior - because of prayer?
Thank you for sharing the power of praying, by testifying to it, by raising your hands.
Prayer shapes our relationships with each other. How much better would our whole world be if all of our relationships were steeped in prayer for one another?
When I need prayer, I know I have people in my life I can ask for prayer and through the power of prayer, I know I can feel God’s love and grace supporting me because I know I have others praying for me. I don’t know what the outcome of the prayers will be. I don’t know if they will be answered in the way I want...but what I do know is that I am not alone - and that I will never be alone. And when I pray for others, I am compelled to let them know with my words and actions that they are not alone either. Through prayer I am assured that I am a beloved child of God that has a home in a community of beloved children of God. That which we proclaim in the baptismal liturgy with our words, we proclaim it with our hearts and with our lives when we pray for one another.
I am also going to issue a prayer challenge to all of you this morning. And that is to pray for our church. I want to say to all of you that you need to pray for our church. And that’s not a need like a should but it is a need that, if we desire for our church to be transformed for God, to reach new people, to grow, to be relevant to our larger community, that starts with prayer. It’s why I asked you to pray for our Boardman United Methodist Preschool kids - why their names are up here on our altar space and why so many of you took home the name of a kid to pray for. Because the more we pray for them, the more we see them through the eyes of God, and the more the eyes of our hearts and minds are opened to see how we can be God for them. And the same is absolutely true for our church. God is at work in our church - God will be at work in our church - AND we need to pray for this, to intentionally put our church in God’s hands, to place our trust of the future of our church in God’s hands - and that all starts with prayer.
And so in our bulletin this morning you will see there is a bookmark-like card with a written prayer on it. I am asking every person at Boardman United Methodist Church to pray this prayer for our church daily. You can pray more, to add to this prayer, but only if you desire to. I am suggesting the time of 7:07pm - based on Matthew 7:7 and the following verses:
“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 asked for bread, would give a stone? Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
We need to pivot ourselves, and our whole church, toward God. Because we desire the future God desires for us. And that starts with asking - with prayer. So, set an alarm on your phones for every day at 7:07pm. And when it goes off, pray this prayer. Keep this bookmark somewhere you will have access to it - or even take a picture of it to keep on your phone. I believe there is power in knowing that, even if we aren’t in the same place, we are praying this prayer together, with each other, every day, at the same time.
And, don’t get too caught up on the time. Remember, it’s a want, not a should. If the time is a time that doesn’t work for you, I’d simply encourage you to pray this prayer daily at a time that does work.
And, let’s pray that prayer for our church together now:
God who has guided us faithfully through the past, we place our church in your care. Lead us into the future with trust and courage. May we be bold for the sake of the Gospel. May we reach new people with your love. May we grow in love of You and love of neighbor. Our hope rests in your unfailing love and grace. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.
As we wrap up our time talking about prayer, I want to ask: are you living a generous prayer life? Are you regularly giving freely of your time and your thoughts to draw closer to God? Are you generously giving all that you are and all that you feel over to God in prayer? And are your prayers generous to one another? Are you praying for your neighbors, your enemies, and your church as much as you pray for yourself? Are you fulfilling our membership promises to one another to pray for the church and one another? Are you fulfilling your baptismal promises to God to draw near to God?
When we are generous in prayer, we are generous in our relationships. We are shaped by the time we spend in the presence of God. Our relationships with one another are shaped in love and grace as well. And everything else in our lives - our discipleship, our relationships, our generosity in all other areas - follows our prayers.
May it be so. Amen.
