Worth Green, Th.M., D. Min.
For the last several weeks we have been talking about prayer. Prayer is a powerful tool, and always available to us. By prayer we place ourselves, and our concerns before God. By prayer we claim God’s promises, and lay hold of God’s provisions. By prayer we move the earth. “More things are accomplished in prayer than we can imagine. “ For that reason Jesus said that we ought always to pray, and not to “faint,” or give up. (Luke 18:1) “Prayer changes things.” Prayer changes the one who prays. Prayer changes you. Prayer changes me. Our prayer is sincere when we are willing to be a part of the answer.
In his autobiography, A Song of Assents, the late E. Stanley Jones, the prominent 20th Century United Methodist Missionary and Evangelist, tells of heading up the committee for a Mission Emphasis Week at Asbury College when he was a student there. The committee committed with one another to pray that at least one person would volunteer for World Missions as a result of their efforts. On the last day of the week, no one had stepped forward. Stanley Jones wrote that as time ran out, he realized that for his prayer to be answered, he would have to be a part of the answer. He put feet on his prayer. He volunteered for world missions, and became one of the most beloved missionaries and personalities of the 20th Century.
Thus far we have dealt with several characteristics of prayer.
We saw that some prayers should be private. Jesus told his disciples to “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” I am glad for secrecy in prayer. I have confessed some things to God in prayer that are so small that I could not bring myself to confess them to another human being. Jesus warned against making a show in prayer. When we pray in public, we do not pray to be heard by those who are with us—we pray to be heard by God. This is even true of pastoral prayers: They ought to be prayers directed to God, not lectures, or sermons, or poetry directed to a congregation.
We saw that some prayers should be public. We join together in prayer “in agreement” to accomplish what we cannot accomplish alone. I thought it was wonderful how this congregation joined together in prayer, and in efforts, on behalf of Brian H_______________, the young man in our congregation who recently received a bone marrow transplant. It is working, but that does not mean we can stop praying. Some prayers are always a work in progress. I cannot imagine ceasing to pray for Brian, or my children, or my grandchildren, or my parents, or my nation. We sometimes forget that we are a nation at war. Are you praying for our troops? Are you praying for peace?
We saw that some prayers are shorter. According to St. Luke, the prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is just 38 words long. It does not even end in an “Amen.” (Luke 11:1-4) I guess you could say that it was an open- ended prayer. In the Revised Standard Version, Jesus’ final prayer on our behalf was just 10 words long. According to Luke 23:34 he prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus spoke those words over the heads of a handful of Roman soldiers. He spoke those words not just for them, but for all who have sinned, and failed ourselves, and our fellow human beings, and our God.
We saw that some prayers are longer, as when Jesus continued the whole night in prayer just before selecting twelve apostles from his many disciples. (Luke 6:12) I believe he was praying for guidance. Some of my prayers for guidance have been “in serial.” That is I have prayed numerous times before I was satisfied that I received the guidance I sought. Sometimes it comes through scripture, sometimes through the situation in which I find myself, and sometimes by what Quakers call “the inner light.” It is an inward conviction that cannot be denied.
We also looked at the postures of prayer. It is possible to pray in almost any posture: Lying in one’s bed, bowing, kneeling, sitting, standing. Each posture reminds us of some truth about prayer. For instance, standing is a posture of readiness and waiting. We stand ready to perform the tasks that God assigns us. Remember the example of E. Stanley Jones. We must be careful what we pray. God may indeed want us to be a part of the answer.
This morning I want to deal with the occasion of prayer. When should we pray?
Jews pray at least three times daily, this because in Ancient Israel the priests offered sacrifices three times each day, and because the prophet Daniel was said to pray three times daily. Jews pray in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the Evening. Since the Jewish day begins in the Evening, evening prayers are technically the first prayers of the following day.
Muslims pray five times daily. Traditionally, prayers are said: 1) just before or just after dawn (fajr), 2) just after noon (dhuhr)(The sun’s noon) They don’t follow daylight savings time!), 3) in the afternoon (asr), 4) just after sunset (maghrib) and 5) around nightfall (isha’a). Prayers can be missed in serious cases, but they should be made up later. Muslims are very rigorous in prayer. Under some circumstances prayers can be shortened or combined (according to prescribed procedures). In many Muslim nations there is a public call to prayer, and people respond en mass. People who have watched a whole city bow down to pray say that it is an impressive sight. I cannot help but feel that it is a bit rigoristic and mechanical: Useful for teaching one “submission,” but not so useful for building up individual disciples and children of God as the habits of prayer that Jesus taught his disciples.
We Christians approach prayer in a variety of ways. The Catholic has prayers for morning (Matins) and evening (Noctuals/Vigils). I often use a little devotional written by John Baillie, entitled, A Diary of Private Prayer. It, too, has prayers for morning and evening. Most Christians also pray before each meal. Some Christians pray only before each meal. Soren Kierkegaard was rather pessimistic about Christians and prayer. He said that most of us pray only when the vegetable life is most active, when we lean back in a comfortable chair after a heavy meal. As our head begins its descent toward the cushion, we often squeeze in a prayer of thanks, and then, as soon as our head touches the cushion, we give in to sleep. Ouch!
I believe prayer is always appropriate on two occasions: Prayer is always appropriate when it is scheduled, and always appropriate when it is unscheduled.
I have no doubt that all of us could benefit from scheduled prayer. We need to fix a time to meet with God, whether it be morning or evening, or both, or three times each day, and we need to keep that meeting. I have already mentioned E. Stanley Jones. I once heard his son-in-law, Bishop James K. Matthews of the United Methodist Church, preach at a pastors conference. Bishop Matthews told that his father-in-law always started and finished each day with prayer. Then he illustrated how faithful Dr. Jones was to his scheduled meeting with God. It went like this. Bishop Matthews told how a driver had accompanied Jones to a series of meetings in a certain city. Stanley Jones was booked into a hotel, but each night after the meeting he was scheduled to eat with a different person. One night his hostess was so enamored of her conversation with Dr. Jones, and with showing him off to her guests, that though he sat at table, Jones could not eat. At long last, without touching his meal, Jones told his driver it was time to go. Then, on the way back to his hotel room, he asked his driver to stop at a market. Dr. Jones went in and bought milk and cookies. Bishop Matthews made his point, “My father-in-law passed up a wonderful meal, and ate milk and cookies, just so that he could keep his appointment with God.” Bishop Matthews concluded that it was that kind of commitment to meeting with God that yielded success in prayer.
Scheduled prayer could benefit us all.
Unscheduled prayer requires less discipline and sacrifice but it does require that we be open to seizing the opportunities that are presented to us. In 1st Thessalonians 5:17 St. Paul wrote, “Pray without ceasing.”
I refer to this unscheduled prayer as “praying as we go.” I like to pray as I go. For almost forty years I treated my morning run as prayer time. I used to begin many runs with a question first posed by Malcolm Boyd, “Are you running with me, Jesus?” I remember with fondness the words of Eric Liddell, the Scottish runner who refused to run an Olympic race on run on Sunday. He later became a missionary to China. He said, “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” Liddell was memorialized in the movie, “Chariots of Fire.”
Unscheduled prayer can work at any time. I will use myself as an example, but you have your examples, too. I often pray in my automobile. Sometimes I pray for patience. Sometimes I pray for the safety of those with whom I share the highway. Sometimes I pray for the homeless I pass on the street. Sometimes I pray that a highway patrol man will catch a careless driver before he hurts himself or another. Several times I have had the pleasure of seeing my prayers for the Highway Patrol to stop some unthinking driver answered. I wish God were hitting a higher percentage of these prayers! Sometimes, I must pray for forgiveness, especially for the thoughts I have had about some of these drivers.
Often when entering a hospital, my attention is drawn to an individual with an apprehensive look. I have often stopped to ask people why they are crying, or why they appear tired or sad. Sometimes I just “zing” them in passing. We sometimes pray in secret. People don’t always have to know we are praying for them. Sometimes I invite those I have noticed if I can pray for them, or serve them in some way. . I am guilty of random prayer with strangers.
I have told you before that I have never (in my memory) left a hospital room without offering to pray. Almost immediately after I told you this, I went to the emergency room to visit with one of our younger members. Her age is not yet in double digits. As I was leaving, I voiced a prayer to God before her mother, with eyes open, but told her mother I would not make a big deal of praying, for I did not want to frighten her. There is an exception to every rule.
Unscheduled prayer has been exceedingly meaningful for me. It has flowed in both directions. Once I went into the home of an older couple and found the wife in great distress. She had fallen out of her chair, and she was wedged between her bed and the wall. Her husband thought that she was dead. I probably did the wrong thing, I lifted her back into her bed. Then I told her husband to call 911 and then I knelt beside her, held her hand, and prayed. She recovered, and though it may be just happenstance, I have always felt that my presence there was important, a part of her recovery.
Remember that when you pray, God knows what you need before you asked him. I remember looking for housing at seminary. We were just getting out of service. We went and looked for a week. No housing was available. Elayne and I had given up. We had several weeks before school started, and we were going to visit my parents in Indiana. Then, as we drove out of town, one of us, I don’t remember which, said, “You know, if God called us here, God will provide us a place to live.” Then, putting feet on our prayers, we turned and drove back to the housing office we had just left. When we entered, the secretary stood up and put a slip of paper in our hands. She was smiling. Sure enough, a beautiful duplex in a nearby town had become available. We went to see it. It was perfect. We were greeted by another seminary couple, who lived next door. They told us that a third seminary couple was interested in the house and was coming to look at it. The husband asked me if I wanted to wait and meet the third couple and pray about it before taking it. I said, “Does the other couple have a house?” He said, “Yes.” I said, “Well, we have already prayed about this house, and I believe it ours to rent.” We lived there for two wonderful years. We ought always to pray and not to faint, but we ought also be willing to put feet on our prayers.
People have asked me if I am going to deal with the subject of unanswered prayer. Yes, in future. For now let us remember to pray, regularly, and spontaneously. Let us keep a regular appointment with God in prayer. Let us also pray as opportunity presents itself. Let us, “pray without ceasing.” It is not just a duty of the Christian life, but a privilege and a right!
Finis