by Ruth Wilkinson
Doing Church 3 – Pray (Acts 2:1-4, 37-39
We pray alone. Like Jesus did.
At the beginning of His earthly ministry—the night before He named His 12 apostles and everything started kicking off (one of the single greatest, most important decisions of His entire ministry)—Luke says,
Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. (Luke 6:12)
At the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry—the night before His death on the cross—Matthew records for us that:
Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me…” (Matthew 26:39)
Jesus’ prayer that night was not answered the way He humanly wanted it to be answered. Unanswered prayer can be devastating for us. It’s something that I take seriously enough to not try to address in a few words. Prayers that are not answered the way we hope are a challenge for those of us who follow God, who believe that God hears our prayers. ‘I believe that He loves me. So why can’t He see? Why doesn’t He get it? I know He can. Why won’t He?’
Another challenge in prayer is that sometimes… it’s hard work. We’re told to pray for our enemies. I don’t want to pray for my enemies.
Another challenge is when prayer is inexpressible. When we just don’t have the words for what we’re trying to express.
When I visit our local tent city in my capacity of Chaplain, sometimes there’s nobody to talk to, or anything that requires my attention. So I walk in a circle around the camp one way, and then back the other. And I pray. At least that’s my intention. I intend to pray over the camp. I intend to pray for the residents, and the volunteers. The agencies’ staffers, and the security guards. The people making decisions about what will happen to this community. I want to pray, but I don’t know where to start because the situation—the need—is so huge and complicated.
So instead, as I walk I silently pray these words, “I bear witness to the powers in this place, of the presence of the Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead. I bear witness to the powers in this place, of the presence of the Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead. I bear witness to the powers in this place, of the presence of the Spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead.”
As I pray those words, I remember and claim the promise in Scripture:
…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans … the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)
When we face the challenges of individual prayer, all I can say to you is… Keep praying. Keep seeking. Keep knocking. Keep asking. Keep trusting. Keep the conversation with God going. Because prayer is not simply a list of things that we want. Prayer is our conversation with God.
Sometimes we pray together. When we do, we’re following the example set for us by the earliest Church in the book of Acts.
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. (Acts 1:12-14)
Corporate prayer was part of the pattern of their everyday life. It was what they modelled and exemplified.
I suggest that when we come together to ‘Do Church…’ When we gather, sit together, sing and listen, talk and share, and put money in the offering plate… When we ‘Do Church,’ our worship service is a prayer.
Each week in our time together we speak the words of ‘the Lord’s Prayer:’
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. May Your kingdom come. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we have forgiven those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:9-13)
When we gather, beginning with a call to worship and the singing of an anthem, reminding ourselves of whose we are and why we are here…
Are we not living Jesus’ words:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
When we give money or time, sing other people’s favourite songs, make space for each other, contribute and serve…
Are we not living Jesus’ words:
Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
When we talk to God together, admitting our helplessness and asking for His help and mercy; when we sit still long enough to receive and to hear from Him through our prayers, through our singing, through the teaching…
Are we not living Jesus’ words:
Give us this day our daily bread.
When we pause to be reminded that we don’t always get it right and that we need to do things differently, that we need to learn from our past and move forward into His future…
Are we not living Jesus’ words:
Forgive us our trespasses as we have forgiven those who trespass against us.
When we conclude our time together on a Sunday morning with words of benediction, of blessing, of dismissal; when we trust in God’s goodness to go with us out those doors…
Are we not living Jesus’ words:
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
This is our conversation with God. This is our listening to and responding to the Spirit. This is us speaking together our thanks, and our longing. Our love, our hopes, and our need for wisdom.
It’s been said that ‘the medium is the message.’ The medium of our gathered-together worship is our message. Everything we do together is done for a reason. Everything we do in our sanctuary is a prayer, part of our conversation with God.
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When we gather to ‘Do Church,’ we are continuing a conversation that didn’t just begin when we became believers. It didn’t just begin at Pentecost. It didn’t even begin in the garden when Adam spoke his first words to God.
Our conversation with God began ‘in the beginning,’ when the earth was formless, when God’s Spirit was waiting, and hovering, and ready to start the conversation.
Ruth Wilkinson is a pastor serving in Ontario, Canada and appears here most Fridays. Her sermon blog is Pastor Percipia. Click the title of this post for a link to the original article and a video sermon of which this is an excerpt.
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