I would like to begin today’s sermon by reading two juxtaposing prayers. If you listen to them closely, you will hear a distinctive difference in the author’s approach to prayer. Here is the first one:
Grant, Almighty God, that as thou hast once adopted us, and continues to confirm this thy favour by calling us unceasingly to thyself, and dost not only severely chastise us, but also gently and paternally invite us to thyself, and exhort us at the same time to repentance, grant that we may not be so hardened as to resist thy goodness, nor abuse this thine incredible forbearance, but submit ourselves in obedience to thee; that whenever thou mayest severely chastise us, we may bear thy corrections with genuine submission of faith, and not continue untameable and obstinate to the last, but return to thee the only fountain of life and salvation, that as thou has once begun in us a good work, so thou mayest perfect it to the day of our Lord. Amen.
This prayer was written by John Calvin, the influential 16th century French theologian and one of the chief fathers of the Protestant Reformation.
Here is the second prayer:
Dear Lord Baby Jesus, or as our brothers in the South call you: ‘Hee-suz’. We thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell. I just want to take time to say thank you for my family: my two beautiful, beautiful, handsome striking sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, or TR as we call him. And, of course, my red hot smokin’ wife Carley, who is a stone cold fox, who if you would rate her on 100 scale, she would easily be a 94. I also want to thank you for my best friend and teammate, Cal Naughton Jr, who’s got my back no matter what…whoo—shake and bake! Dear Lord Baby Jesus, we also thank you for my wife’s father Chip. We hope that you can use your Baby Jesus powers to heal him and his horrible leg. It smells terrible and the dogs are always botherin’ with it. Dear Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant, so cuddly, but still omnipotent. We just thank you for all the races I’ve won and the $21.2 million dollars…Whoo! LOVE THAT MONEY! Amen!
This prayer was spoken by NASCAR driver Ricky Bobby in the 2006 non-Oscar nominated film “Talladega Nights.”
Although these two prayers both begin by addressing God, end with the word “Amen”, and are, for the most part, theologically correct, they couldn’t be more different from each other in style. Calvin’s prayer is what we might call “high church”—it is a written form prayer of dense theological terminology, lofty poetic nomenclature, and it invokes God as the transcendent judge who watches over the affairs of the world. Bobby’s prayer, on the other hand, is what we call “low church” or “really really low church”—it is a spontaneous spoken prayer of coarsely colloquial vocabulary, crude and unsophisticated slang, and appeals to the immanence of Jesus Christ in a manner that is borderline blasphemous.
These prayers brilliantly represent the contrasting extremes in approach to prayer. Now that you have heard both of them, let me ask you: Which one is correct? My instinct is that most of you are somewhat uncomfortable with Ricky Bobby’s prayer. Even if it is true, it just feels irreverent to express thanksgiving to God for your “red hot smokin’ wife and 21.2 million dollar winnings.” I don’t mean any disrespect to NASCAR fans, but if we are honest, this prayer is outrageous and sacrilegious.
Moreover, I also suspect that most of you weren’t too keen on John Calvin’s prayer either. Many of you were probably thinking, “Wow, that prayer sure sounded nice, but I didn’t have the slightest idea what he was talking about.” It is accurate to say that some prayers are so heavenly that they are of no earthly value!
Unfortunately, many of our models of prayer, both inside and outside the church, have left us scratching our heads and wondering how are we supposed to pray? Should we recite form prayers from prayer books or should we employ extemporaneous prayers like casual conversations? Should prayer be an act of public piety or a discipline of private solitude? Should our prayers emphasize the holiness and majesty of God or humility and meekness of God? Should we only pray for others or is it OK to pray for ourselves as well? With so many ecclesiastical traditions and competing philosophies about prayer, don’t you just wish that Jesus was with us physically so that we could say to him, “Lord, give us a pedagogy of prayer!”
The Lord’s Prayer (1-4)
Well, that is precisely the question that Jesus’ disciples asked him while they were on their journey to Jerusalem. The disciples had long admired Jesus’ prayer life; on many occasions they watched Jesus go off to a private place and engage in profound and intimate periods of prayer with his Heavenly Father. They wanted to know how to pray like Jesus. Furthermore, it was the custom that rabbis would teach their followers how to pray; John the Baptist had apparently done this with his disciples.
So, Jesus decided to oblige his disciples and grant their request. He spoke the words that we commonly refer to as “The Lord’s Prayer.” Over the centuries, there has been much debate about the purpose of this prayer. Was it meant to be a form prayer recited in unison during a public worship gathering or a pattern to guide individuals through the categories of private devotion? The answer is a resounding “Both!”
First, when Jesus says, “When you pray…” the “you” is plural. It is almost impossible to distinguish in the English translation, but it is crystal clear in the Greek. He is speaking to them as a group, not individuals. Therefore, this prayer was meant to be recited as a group.
Second, many of you may not know this, but the Lord’s prayer bears a striking resemblance to the Amidah and Qaddish, which were Jewish form prayers; they were recited on a daily basis, both privately and publicly. Jesus did not try to reinvent the wheel when it came to prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is really an augmentation and distillation of two common form prayers. Therefore, like the others, it was originally intended to be memorized and recited regularly. The repetition of these words provides personal continuity in devotion and corporate solidarity in worship.
On the other hand, Jesus most certainly intended this prayer to be a pattern to guide the prayer life of his followers. Notice that Luke’s version of the prayer is different than Matthew’s version. This form is more simplified, but it still covers the same basic categories. Both prayers begin by addressing God as a loving Father figure, offering praise to his name, and submitting to his sovereign rule, as it is manifested throughout creation. From there, both prayers move to corporate petitions for God to provide our daily needs, forgive our sins, and to lead us away from temptation. These categories form the pattern that should guide our prayer life. Some of you are familiar with the helpful acronym, ACTS, that summarizes the components of the Lord’s Prayer: A-Adoration of God; C-Confession of Sin; T-Thanksgiving; S-Supplication.
Therefore, let us not fall into the trap of setting up a false dichotomy about the use of the Lord’s Prayer. Did you know that there are many Baptist, Pentecostal, and Evangelical churches that never recite the Lord’s Prayer in church? Some of them don’t even know the words by heart. They protest all forms of liturgy and are quick to declare that the Lord’s Prayer is only a pattern for extemporaneous prayer.
Likewise, there are many Roman Catholic, Episcopal, and liturgical churches that only recite the Lord’s prayer and other written prayers. They wouldn’t have a clue what to say to Jesus Christ if he was standing right in front of them. They would say, “Oh, no! I can’t find a prayer in my prayer book for this!”
But Jesus presents a balanced pedagogy of prayer. There is great value and power in the gathered church reciting the Lord’s Prayer and other form prayers together. There is also a wonderful pattern to inform and guide every prayer that we ever pray, regardless of where we are or what we are doing.
A Parable about Prayer (5-13)
After Jesus taught his disciples The Lord’s Prayer, he continued his pedagogy of prayer by telling them a parable. He poses the parable in the form of a question: Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived from a long journey, and I have nothing to set before him?” This parable picks up on two cultural dynamics. First, food was not readily available like it is today. Second, Jewish culture put a high priority on hospitality.
Even though the friend’s door was already shut and he had put his kids to bed, he decides to help the petitioner, not on the foundation of their friendship, but on the basis of his boldness. The Greek term translated here as “boldness” carries the idea of unrelenting persistence and shameful audacity.
In verses 9-10, Jesus directly applies this parable to the prayer life of his disciples. Jesus commands his disciples to approach their heavenly Father with the same boldness and shameful audacity—“Ask, seek, and knock!” Like the friend in the parable, the Lord responds to persistence in prayer—“For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks the door will be opened.”
Jesus drives home his point and concludes his pedagogy of prayer by asking a few rhetorical questions: “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
This pedagogical parable teaches us that God desires prayers that are bold, even shameless, in its approach to him. It is not shameless in the sense of coming to God for all the selfish wants and desires we have. God is not a cosmic Santa Claus; nor is he a galactic Grinch! He simply desires prayer with nerve; where we openly and honestly pour our hearts out to him. The response, of course, is up to him! What should you do if God doesn’t answer your prayer? Keep knock knock knocking on heaven’s door!
In this passage, the Lord has taught us how to pray. He has presented to us a powerful pedagogy of prayer. As I conclude, allow me to challenge you with a few action points for your prayer life!
- If you don’t already know it, memorize the Lord’s Prayer. Recite it once a day and twice on Sunday’s. (once in church, of course!)
- Try reading some form prayers! Use a resource like The Book of Common Prayer or The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. You can learn a lot about prayer and enrich your own prayer life by reading good prayers.
- Try writing some of your own prayers. Use descriptive, theological, and poetic language.
- Try some extemporaneous and passionate prayers! Approach your heavenly Father with boldness, persistence, and shameful audacity! Cry out to God from the depths of your soul. Lay your sins, fears, anxieties, griefs, and shortcomings at the foot of his cross!
- And finally, stay as far away from Ricki Bobby as you can!