Weekly Sermon

Resisting Prayer: October 7, 2001

The Reverend Anne Benefield

Luke 18:1-8

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, 'Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, 'Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Prayer: Lord God, Breathe in us your Spirit that we might hear your word and follow it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Tony Campolo tells a great story about an elderly missionary who was discussing prayer at a women's conference. "To the small circle of women gathered around her, she explained that when she first went to the mission field, more than fifty years earlier, she was extremely lonely. She saw that other missionaries were married and had families, and she bemoaned the feeling that she was all alone. In her loneliness, she begged God to pick out a husband for her. She told how she prayed and prayed and prayed, and was sure that God would answer her prayer. "One of the women in the group exclaimed, 'But, you've never married! You're still single!' "The elderly missionary said, 'You're right! But somewhere out there is a seventy-four-year-old man who has been resisting God's will for more than fifty years.'" [Tony Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story: Life Lessons from Unexpected Places and Unlikely People, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 2000), p. 60] I love that story. Of course, there is a message in there about praying as if God where our personal concierge. Prayer isn't just a request line, but sometimes we find ourselves using prayer that way. Still, I'm convinced that God is happier when we are making lots of requests than when we are simply ignoring him. As I sat thinking about this parable, a question kept coming to me: "Why don't we pray more?" I know that there are some serious "pray-ers" among us, but for the most part, in modern times we haven't been much of a country for prayer. We have resisted praying. I kept thinking about that and I think I found the answer to why we don't pray more. To figure out why we don't pray very much, perhaps we should look at the people who do pray and what motivates them. Christianity is growing around the world much faster than it is growing in the U.S.A. African and Asian churches are baptizing thousands of people every week. The church is Russia has grown exponentially building on the strength of the covert church during the rule of communism. On this World Communion Sunday more people in Africa and Asia will be celebrating the Lord's Supper than in the United States and Northern Europe. People around the world are praying much more than we pray. What is going on in those places to cause such a devotion to prayer? Another group that is willing to pray is children. One of my favorite books is Children's Letters to God. It is filled with gems. I love the letter that says, "Dear God, thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy. Joyce." Most of the letters are cute or funny, but one says it all. It's from a girl named Nora. She writes, "Dear God, I don't ever feel alone since I found out about you." Children don't resist praying. There is one more group that prays regularly. Those are the dear ones among us who are suffering. Whether they are facing illness, death, loss, family problems or work difficulties, they pray. When I speak to people in pain, I usually ask, "Shall we pray." The overwhelming answer is "yes!" What do the people in Asia and Africa, children, and those who are facing devastating problems have in common? They are all vulnerable. They need help, and they know it. They have no illusions that they are invincible. I think in the past the reason we have resisted praying is that we didn't think we needed it. But that changed on September 11th. Suddenly we realized that we are vulnerable, and we need prayer. On this wonderful day when we celebrate communion with Christians around the world, let us not resist praying. Let us raise our prayers with friends in need in every corner of the world, for God is faithful and will respond. In my life I have found that with every disappointment, every mistake, every setback, my prayer life becomes more rich. The more I realize I need God, the more I find God around every corner. God calls us to this table that we might be strengthened and nourished and then God prays with us to give us the faith to go out and help those in greater need than we are. Let us pray together: Lord God, we now know how deeply we need you. We now know how vulnerable we are. We now know how much we have in common with those who suffer injustice and violence around the world. We come to your table for only you can sustain us. Open our souls to your Spirit as we share the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.