Prayer

 Acts 16:16-34; Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21; John 17:20-26

Today, I want us to think about prayer. Prayer shows up in many ways in our texts, reminding us that there are many ways to pray, and many reasons for prayer.

Today’s portion of Jesus’ final message to the disciples is a prayer. I don’t know about you, but it seems Jesus is speaking in circles, saying the same thing in different ways, kind of like this Starry Night painting by Vincent van Gogh.

What is Jesus praying for, when we come down to the basics? Jesus wants us to trust God enough to turn to God in prayer. Why should we trust God? Because God sent Jesus to tell us so.

Jesus also says we are to seek unity with each other. “What!?” we comment. “We don’t want unity with THOSE folks!” And that’s exactly the point. God wants us to remember that even ‘those folks’ are just as much God’s children as we are, and God manages to love us and seek unity with us!

… In Acts, Paul and Silas are in Philippi preaching about Jesus, and I suppose praying that they would meet people willing to hear the good news. There is a young woman in town with the spirit, or gift, of divination. She was enslaved by people who profited from her by promoting her as a fortune teller.  Perhaps because of her gifts, she proclaimed that Paul and Silas were speaking the truth, and urging people to listen to them.

I hope Paul prayed about a response to the situation, but the text doesn’t say. One day, he is frustrated by her constant presence and orders (maybe?) prays that the spirit would be removed from her. And it came out. Now her owners are upset, and have Paul and Silas arrested and thrown in jail.

Instead of protesting their innocence, they spend the night praying and singing hymns to God. At about midnight, an earthquake shook the prison and opened all the doors. In despair, the jailer was about to end his own life, knowing his life would be over anyway if the prisoners escaped. I imagine he prayed for his Roman gods to help him.

Paul and Silas reassured him, that they were all still there. Amazed, the jailer wanted to know how to have this same kind of peace, that would keep them all in place despite the opportunity to escape. Paul and Silas told him and his family about Jesus, and they were all baptized, becoming members of the Philippian congregation based at Lydia’s home.

As often happens with Luke’s storytelling, we don’t hear what happened next to the young women. She now has no value to her ‘owners’. Perhaps she was given menial work, perhaps she was sold to other owners. Perhaps she, too, prayed to God and was baptized and brought into the Philippian church.

… In this passage from Revelation, Jesus prays for us. He wraps up the story with an invitation, ‘Watch for me. I am coming soon! Be open to seeing me.’ And we respond with the prayer, ‘Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!’  

There is a popular belief that heaven is up there somewhere, above the clouds, where God and all our deceased loved ones are. And it may be so, that there is a dimension in which God and our loved ones reside.

But that is not what Revelation is about. Revelation makes it plain that God has come down from the heavenly place to dwell with us on earth. God has reimagined the holy city into wherever WE are. We are living in heaven, if we look around, if we have the faith to see it as God sees it. Jesus is present, wherever we look for him. And so, we pray to see Jesus, to know him, to know he is with us whenever we need him, and even when we think we don’t need him. Maybe especially when we don’t think we need God’s help.

… What do you pray for? How do you pray? What words do you use? Often, I value the traditional words of the liturgy. I don’t have to think, I don’t have to read them, they just come to me. Just as often, I use my own words, or simply say a name or a situation: Sarah, or an end to hunger. Jesus and I know each other, and he has told us he prays for us. So, like any good friend, I don’t need a lot of words for Jesus to understand what I am thinking about.

And I find it interesting that when we pray long enough about something, for healing or for an end to violence, our prayers change. We begin with, ‘God, fix this!’ and slowly our prayers morph into, ‘How can I help fix this?’ It’s Jesus who hears you and prays along with you.

… As we take time today to ask for healing, for ourselves, for those we love, we trust in Jesus’ presence to make the healing real and true. Each time I touch one of you, I hope you feel Jesus touching you and praying for you.

Whenever we pray, whatever we pray for, we pray with confidence, because Jesus is right there, praying with us and for us. So, pray, pray often, with and without words. Because Jesus hears you and prays with and for you, even if you only think your prayer. Amen