Lord, Teach Us to Pray

A few years ago, my wife, Judy and I took a road trip along the eastern seaboard of the United States. As part of that trip, we visited Washington DC.

I need to tell you, one of the most inspirational sites in that city is the Lincoln Memorial. On the north wall of that Memorial, some of you have probably seen it, is the speech Abraham Lincoln gave on the occasion of his second inauguration to the Presidency of the United States.

As I read those words chiselled in stone, I was amazed to see how much Lincoln’s speech was grounded in a deep and profound sense of Christian faith.

The country was embroiled in a vicious and destructive civil war. I might have expected him to say, "God is on our side alone!" Given the nature of partisan politics today, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d invoked God as a terrible moral judge against the South. But it was not like that.

In his speech, Abraham Lincoln recognized that all the people, North and South, prayed to and worshiped the same God. I had the sense of a man who walked with a caring and compassionate God - that God was part of who Lincoln was as a person, permeating his being and never far from his thoughts. It was obvious he recognized his own dependence upon God - he leaned upon God for strength, wisdom and hope, and in the midst of his tumultuous presidency, prayer and his experience of God, sustained him, and was an integral part of his decision making process, and his leadership.

Perhaps that’s what the disciples of Jesus were looking for two thousand years ago when they came to Jesus and said, "Lord, teach us to pray?"

I'm sure we can identify with that question, because all of us want to discover the answer ... How do we have an experience of God - all of us need to find the fulfilment of that quest - because we know, if we don't find that answer, of what difference is all the other things we search for in life. It's a game we play. We can fool some people, but it's still a game. We can get applauded and admired, but it's still a game. We can wear false faces, but it's still a game. That's the heart of the matter – an experience of God.

In his book, The Future of Faith, theologian Harvey Cox talks about the three ages of the church. The first age which lasted until 300 AD was characterized by a deep sense of trust in God. The second age, which lasted until approximately 1900 was concerned with knowledge about God. And the third age, the one we find ourselves in, yearns for a deep and transforming experience of God.

So, what people in the 21st century really expect of their faith and their church is this … Help me to pray. The people who come to worship each Sunday, I don't care what they're talking about, they really have only one question, it's not: How did Noah get all those animals on the ark? Is evolution true or false? What should we think about homosexuality?

The burning question for people of faith in 2025 is this: Will God be here today? That's the only question. That's all I really ask of my church - to provide an occasion upon which I can experience the presence of God. That's what prayer is.

And I believe that's what people expect of a minister - is to help enable that meeting God, here ... today - this relationship to God. We ministers sometimes get sidetracked - get going down all kinds of strange and wonderful paths, but in my lucid moments, I now I am here to encourage and enable the experience of God.

This is my third Sunday here at St. Andrew’s, and we’re just beginning to know each other. In fact, I’m going to be here for a while, so you may be wondering, “What kind of minister is Wes Denyer? Is he going to be any good?”

People often wonder that, about their first experiences with a new minister, and that’s something which, I believe, is going to be very important to all of you in the near future.

Mitch, who was with you for the last 7 years has left, and I hope the Presbytery of Vancouver Island, may soon give you permission to begin a search for a new, permanent minister. When that happens, your Interim Moderator will assist you in that search.

Now, I’ve been interim moderator in several congregations over the last 40 years. I’ve listened to the discussions and the debates, “What kind of minister do we need here? What are we looking for in a minister?”

And I’ve heard all kinds of answers to those questions … different people want different things …

"Well, what we're looking for is an older minister - someone who's experienced. Someone who knows how, and is seasoned."

"Oh no we don't either. We had one of those seasoned older ministers, and he slept through all the meetings, just sat there and his head would always be slipping down. What we want is someone who can preach. I remember one minister - couldn't preach his way out of a wet paper bag! We need someone who can preach."

"I don't care whether they can preach or not, we need someone who can teach us the Bible. We're getting away from the Bible. We need a Bible teacher!"

"No we don't! I was in a church where we had one of those Bible scholars … didn't last a year. We got so confused ... didn't know what in the world was going on. You know what we need. We need a minister who will call in the homes. Whatever happened to calling in the homes? Ministers used to call in the homes. We need one who will come visit us."

"Oh no we don't! No sir, I don't want a minister calling in my home. When I get home from work I get comfortable - you know what I mean? ... real comfortable. And I don't want a reverend walking in after I get comfortable. I'll tell you what we need. We need a young minister. Listen, we don't have the young people ... that's our future ... we need the young people. Let's get a young minister in here to bring in the young people."

No ... we don't want that. We had a young minister here once. Went off on a hayride with the youth group … never came back!"

Well, as an interim moderator, I’ve listened to those heated discussions, but when you get through all that, I think what people really want in their minister is always just the same: We need a minister who will help us to experience the presence of God.

As the disciples said … Lord, teach us to pray.

I really don't know why the disciples ask that at this particular time. We're in Luke chapter 11, you know. The ministry of Jesus is about over. He's on his way to Jerusalem. It's going to be over soon. Why now? Jesus has been praying all along. Why do they ask it now? I don't know ...

It might have been that the logic of this whole thing finally sank in upon these twelve brothers: "Jesus has been praying all along. And if our leader needs prayer, it might not hurt the rest of us." Maybe it’s come home to them. Maybe ...

It might be because of their recent turmoil. Luke says they've been walking along the road fussing about who's number one, and who's number two, and who's number three, and who's the greatest? Absolutely inappropriate for ministers of the Gospel. “Who's the greatest?” Who do you think's the best preacher in the group? And they begin to feel this thing coming apart. The group is coming apart. And there may be a little panic set in, because they don't know what Jesus is all about ... but at least we're together in this. Nobody can make it all alone.

Maybe ... maybe that's what they're thinking.

It might be their recent failure. Luke says about a chapter and a half back, they had a big, big mistake ... a big failure ... a total loss of power. Jesus was on the mountain praying with three of the disciples, the other nine were at the foot of the hill waiting. A man comes up with a child who has seizures – says to the nine, "He's just driving his mother and me mad. He's going to kill himself. He's in the fire. He's in the water. What can you do? Can you help?" And they try ... and can't. Jesus comes down the mountain - heals the boy. And the nine say, "Why couldn't we do that?" And Jesus says, "This kind comes out only by prayer."

"Oh yeah, we knew we'd left something out of the Order of Service."

Maybe it's coming home.

It could be, they're asking for prayer because they've just tasted success. You know, back in chapter ten, big success ... such big success that Jesus said, "I saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning." Boy, the healings, the souls saved, the sermons preached, the lessons taught, the demons exorcised ... what a report. Great report. Now the shadow falls.

There is no shadow falls across your life like the shadow of success. When we're working and striving to make it, we have a purpose and a meaning in our lives. But sometimes it's when we arrive, when we get to where we want to be in life, when we get everything we want, then the depression and despondency and doubt arrives. What next? Where do we go from here? "Lord, teach us to pray ..." Maybe ...

And why? Why is it so hard?

I don't know. It just may be that those disciples are beginning to experience the immensity of what Jesus is about. Do you think they're beginning to get the size of it? They start out as twelve Galileans just following Jesus, and pretty soon he's embracing lepers, babies, unclean people, sinners, poor, lame, blind, deaf, rich people, Roman soldiers ... he reaches out ... tax collectors. This thing is getting too big!

When we keep it small I know how to pray: "Lord bless me, my family, and all that are in this church. Amen."

This thing is getting big. It's not too long before the church is stretching out its arms to encompass the whole world ... the whole created order ... the whole universe. There's not a thing that exists, not a star, not a squirrel, not an apple tree, that will not be finally embraced in the love of God.

Lord teach us to pray?

Well, as far as I'm concerned, whether you're the President of Microsoft, or leaning out the door saying to the letter carrier, "Are the welfare cheques in?"; whether you're standing on the Olympic Podium, or just having trouble getting out of bed in the morning; whether you're Donald Trump, or Justin Trudeau, the needs the same: We need a relationship to God – an experience of God. We need to be in touch with a power that lifts us up out of ourselves, so we can see further, reach higher, touch other lives and have the courage to be touched by them.

Teach us to pray ... Why?!

Because we cannot do this thing called "life" alone. We cannot, all alone, lead and nurture the communities within which we live. Is it possible, without God, we cannot go forward with real integrity, hope and discernment?

Lord, teach us to pray ... so in the power, wisdom and love of the risen Christ, we may be enabled to serve God, to serve others, and to learn to live in the fullness of life God has promised.