Luke 11:1-13 (III): The Lord's Prayer (III)

The fact that Jesus spent the entire night praying before a big decision tells us something about the function of solidtude in his life. Jesus fought the big battles of life in solitude. We tend to think battles are fought on the battlefield, whether an athletic arena, workplace, boardroom, classroom, or home. But Jesus demonstrated that the battle begins before he actual physical encounter takes place. The real battle takes place in silence, where you are alone, as you seek to attune yourself to the will of God.

The word that sums up the entire phenomenon of quiet listening is integrity--a sense of wholeness, fullness or completeness. Jesus' integrity is reflected in his words when he first met Nathanael. All Jesus said was, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit" (John 1:47). A person of integrity recognizes that same trait in anotehr person. Jesus sought to "integrate" his life so that he would be an "integer." He would be one self, one with God and one with humankind, fuly divine and fully human, fully able to bear the burden of life.

Simple Acceptance and Earnest Request

Though much time in prayer is quiet listening, some part of it should include learning to practice simple acceptance. A wonderful example of simple acceptance is the response of Mary, after hearing from the angel Gabriel that she would bear the baby Jesus: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). She accepted the Word of God and the will of God, simply and briefly.

Simple acceptance must be differentiated from grim resignation. Resignation is going along with something because it is useless to fight it. Resignation and resentment ofen travel together, and they look for opportunities to rear their heads and assert their wills. Simple acceptance is different. It emerges from a realization that what is being asked of you, or required of you, is really a good thing even though the full extent of its "goodness" might not be clear. You accept it as good because the person requesting your acceptance is good. You are convinced this person has your best intersts at heart. Simple acceptance to the will and Word of God says, "Here am I; send me!" (Is. 6:8) or "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening" (I Sam. 3:10); or "Not what I want, but what you want" (Mark 14:36); or even, "It was good for me that I was humbled, so that I might learn your statutes" (Ps. 119:71).

Asking and receiving in prayer is a theme that runs throughout Jesus' teaching. Here are a couple of examples:

"Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives" (Matt. 7-8).

"Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete," (John 16:23-24).

Sometimes statements like this are qualified a bit with a reminder to ask in faith (Mark 11:24) or to abide in Jesus while asking (John 15:7), but often the emphasis remains simply on asking and receiving. These promises frequently lead to more pain than pleasure. Sometimes Christians tend to develop a view of God as a 'genie" to be summoned in times of need. Other times we are confused when our requests apparently fall on deaf ears. Perhaps, we think, God has promised too much, has "overplayed his hand."

We will be less likely to feel that God has let us down or is deaf to our pleas if we understand that requesting favors is only one aspect of prayer. Prayer as earnest request is more a desire to change us than to change our circumstances, more a desire to seek communion with God than things from God, more a process of accepting things than desiring things. Yet since we are encouraged to take our requests to God, in this brief section I will write about two things: prayer as orderly asking and prayer as shameless request.

An example of orderly asking is Jesus' model of prayer provided for his disciples. The Lord's Prayer appears twice in the Gospels (Matt. 6:9-13 as well as above). Jesus contrasts this prayer with the long-winded and showy prayers of the hypocrites. The Lord's Prayer teaches us that prayer can have a form. There is a way to pray, a technique to it. Many of us, brought up in traditions that emphasize spontaneous prayer, are afraid to pray in public for fear that we will utter such distracting or bland prayers that people will be more embarrassed than blessed. We become free when we realize we can use words of others to shape our own prayers.

The Lord's Prayer not only gives us precise words to pray, but also provides a form that we can use in prayer. Start with adoration, continue with confession of one's sins, make requests, and end with an ascription of praise to God. Even in the brevity of Lord's Prayer asking is only a small part of the whole. The greater emphasis is on giving glory to God.

The idea of shameless prayer comes from the rest of the passage from Luke quoted in the first essay. The word translated "persistence" in Lk. 11:8 has also been translated "importunity" (RSV) or "boldness" (NISV). Perhaps these translations are all trying to soften the Greek words, which is literally rendered "shamelessness" or "without shame." In other pasages, Jesus talks about the value of persistent prayer (Lk. 18:1-8), but here the emphasis is on the shameless, brazen, impudent or brash prayer. Jesus assures us that sincere prayers, from the very orderly to the very shameless, will be heard and answered by God. By translating the word as "shameless" we actually receive more comfort than taking refuge behind the less emphatic words "persistence" or "boldness."

Conclusion

Much more could be said, both about the Lord's Prayer and prayer in general. Suffice it to emphasize here again that prayer changes us more than it changes the world, and that prayer gives us insight into dimensions of life that are closed off to many. Thank God for the gift of prayer.

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