Rochester, MN UCC - "Lord, Teach Us to Pray" - Luke 11:1-13

I once heard a seminary professor tell a story about going to see a spiritual director shortly after her ordination.  The professor had been feeling off and disconnected and she asked the spiritual director for help with her relationship to God.  The director asked her how often she was in prayer.  She answered honestly that it had been awhile since she’d prayed with any regularity in her personal life.  The director asked her, “Do you have any other good relationships where you don’t regularly communicate with the other person?”

In our text from Luke 11, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray.  Some 2,000 years later, nearly every Christian church of all denominations, in every corner of the globe, uses a version of this prayer in their weekly worship.  Together, as the one, united, and universal church we call on God as our Father, we praise God’s name, we ask for God’s kingdom to come.  We ask for daily bread, for forgiveness, and for aid in the time of trial.  The Lord’s Prayer unites believers throughout the world in building our relationship to and trust in God as the gracious parent who provides for, protects, and forgives their children.

If you only spoke to a friend once a week for about 30 seconds, you probably wouldn’t expect the two of you to maintain a really solid relationship.  Fortunately, we are not limited to praying in communal worship; we can and should pray regularly in our own private lives.  The benefit of this private prayer, whatever shape it takes for you, is the deepening of your relationship with God.  Jesus tells us that just as a parent wouldn’t give a stone to a child who asked for bread, so too will God give to us the Holy Spirit when we seek Her in prayer.  To receive the Holy Spirit is to have the peace and power of God dwell within us.  This doesn’t make all our problems disappear, but it does mean that we can face the world without fear or anxiety; that we can know serenity and peace in our lives.  The benefit of regular prayer is the peace and power that comes from a deep relationship with the almighty God.  May we each know this peace and make use of this power.  Amen.

Pastor Andrew Greenhaw