Gospel
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
"Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples."
He said to them, "When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test."
And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend
to whom he goes at midnight and says,
'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,
for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey
and I have nothing to offer him,'
and he says in reply from within,
'Do not bother me; the door has already been locked
and my children and I are already in bed.
I cannot get up to give you anything.'
I tell you,
if he does not get up to give the visitor the loaves
because of their friendship,
he will get up to give him whatever he needs
because of his persistence.
"And I tell you, ask and you will receive;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks, receives;
and the one who seeks, finds;
and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
What father among you would hand his son a snake
when he asks for a fish?
Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg?
If you then, who are wicked,
know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will the Father in heaven
give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
Dulverton Sermon
Prayer Pointers
One of the strongest motivations for good parents, is doing their best for their children in terms of life style, education, and provision. We may think that sometimes this is taken too far with children being spoilt and expecting their every wish to be granted with little effort on their part. We may judge that too much emphasis is being placed on the provision of material possessions to the neglect of personal time and spiritual nurture but we cannot deny that the parental instinct to do ones best for ones children is good.
In today’s gospel Jesus picks up on this universal human trait and uses it to illustrate how God wants to relate to us: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” I believe that in these words Jesus gives us three pointers for the life of prayer.
First, he tells us that the person petitioned in prayer is “the heavenly Father”: Last Monday I spent some time with a friend from the Coptic monastery at Langdale End. As we travelled together in his car he told me that he had a recent experience that brought him much joy. He is a very caring man who has helped many people and is much respected as a priest. His friends call him ‘Abuna’, the Coptic for ‘Father’ but he had recently received a letter from someone he had been helping in which he was called not ‘Father’ but the Coptic equivalent of ‘Daddy’ indicating a relationship more of intimacy and love than simply of respect. It reminded me of how Jesus taught his disciples to call God ‘Abba, Father’ which is roughly the same idea in Aramaic. The true nature of God, whom we address in prayer, is not some remote respected father figure but a close trusted friend who more than anything wants to give us what is truly good and best for us.
Secondly, in our text, Jesus tells us that the best approach of those praying is “those who ask”: “Ask, and it will be given to you” says Jesus. “For the one who asks always receives.” Christian prayer should always an open, confident, simple, and clear expression of what we want from “the heavenly father”. In his story about knocking up the neighbour in bed to borrow some bread Jesus also tells us that prayer should be persistent. Do you remember how he challenged blind man sat by the side of the road as he passed when he shouted out for help: “What do you want me to do for you?” – an invitation to request whatever he likes. The essence of real Christian prayer is desire – telling your heavenly father exactly what you want. “What do you want? What do you really want? What do you really really want?” We should come as children who are confident that their father is able to grant what we ask him and wants to be positive and generous in his response to our requests. There is just one proviso. He doesn’t want to give us a stone when our real need is for bread. So perhaps he may delay giving us what we first ask for and ask us over and over again what we really want to help us appreciate our deepest needs can only be met by spiritual gifts.
Then thirdly, in our text, Jesus tells us that the best present he has to offer us is “the Holy Spirit”: The Holy Spirit is Himself, God with us, God within us.
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