Easter VII - 12 May 2013

(More than a little tardy, but present nonetheless.)

I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

• Once again, we find an amazing statement in the Gospels. Here in the Last Supper discourse found in John's Gospel, Jesus prays for his disciples, all his disciples - I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, It may not be something we think about often, but Jesus prays for us now and he prayed for us then. Of course, we weren't mentioned by name, but we are surely included in Jesus' prayer.
• Did you ever wonder why Jesus had to pray? If prayer is our way of being in contact with God, then contact with God is prayer, Jesus would be in contact with his Father and that contact would be prayer.
• The fact that Jesus prayed is attested to in all the Gospel accounts. He would go off by himself to a deserted place to pray, sometimes all night. He prayed with his disciples and he prayed for people he encountered anywhere.
• When Jesus walked the earth, he walked it as a Jewish man of his own time, so he would pray as a Jewish man of his time. He would have learned to pray at Joseph's knee and in the synagogue. His prayer would be based on the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scripture and on the prophets, and on the Book of Psalms in particular. In that book, there is a psalm for every occasion and for every mood or feeling. Jesus would have prayed in public,in the Sabbath service, and in private. His final prayer, on the cross at Calvary, quoted Psalm 22 as he cried out as one abandoned by God. Still, read the entire psalm and see how the mood changes by the final verse.
• We know that Jesus prayed and we have a good idea what his prayer would have been based on. That leaves us with a question: Is it possible for us to pray like Jesus?
• The answer is “Yes.” The more important question is this: Is it possible for us to pray like ourselves? Although this might sound strange or silly to you, the truth is many of us pray in someone else's words or with someone else's sense. Sometimes it's quite hard to pray as ourselves rather than kidding ourselves.
• So then, what exactly prayer is?
• In an old, old definition, prayer is “lifting the heart and mind to God.” This can be done in public or in private, with words we read, words me memorized, or with our own spontaneous words. It can even be done without words. (I'll say more about that later.)
• It can be petition, adoration, confession, thanksgiving, or even complaint. Petition asks. Adoration praises. Confession acknowledges sin and failure and asks for forgiveness. Thanksgiving acknowledges what God has done and gives thanks. There can be further types. I mentioned complaint. God already knows us and our needs, so prayers of complaint do more to allowing us to see and express ourselves than they might do to change God's mind.
• Prayer can be verbal (aloud) or mental (in our thoughts.) It also possible to pray by singing, by reading – an ancient Christian spiritual discipline, by meditating, and even by being silent. In one style of prayer, a simple verse of prayer is linked to the person's breathing so that as the habit is built, each breathe becomes a prayer.
• There is also a prayer called “the prayer of presence.” Often no words are used, but it is possible to involve words and even a constant conversation with God in it. This sort of prayer involves being quite before the face of God, being aware of the presence of God around and within. This is not easy because we are so easily distracted, but it is possible. I know some people who maintain a conversation with God while they drive, even talking out loud if they're driving alone. There are others who can sit quiet for a long time, content to be in the presence of God and to be aware of it.
• It is possible to pray in any mood, in sickness or health, in any circumstance, and with any words or no words at all. It is best to pray out of our own reality as we know it, because then we won't be fooling ourselves. I say it that way because there is no way to fool God.
• If we limit our prayer to what we need and want or to desperate praise for fear that God will be angry for us not praying enough, we are missing the real relationship God wishes us to have. If we feel our own words are not adequate and so we don't pray, we are not only missing that relationship, we might also be placing an idol between ourselves and God.
• So does our prayer change God or does our prayer change us? A very good question and one I cannot answer. I know for certain prayer changes us and I know of instances were prayers of intercession appear to have influenced the situation being prayed about. The Bible talks of God “repenting” of some punishment he was going to inflict – like the bargaining session between God and Abraham before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah – but what this means is under discussion, probably from the moment it happened. Still the prayer of Jesus in the garden the night before his crucifixion includes both petition and surrender: “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done. ”
• Yes, Jesus, as a man of his time and place, prayed and prayed faithfully. He spoke familiarly with his Father and his prayer was formed by his relationship with his Father. Jesus still prays for us, and remains our intercessor with the Father. On so many occasions spoken of in the Gospels, he give us the command to pray and he gives us models of how to pray, such as the prayer we call “The Lord's Prayer.” For us has Jesus' disciples, the relationship with have with our loving Father through Jesus in the Spirit is as necessary as the air around us and prayer – what ever sort of prayer fits you – is how we breathe it in.
• One last thing... In my first year in the monastery, I asked my superior how to pray. He gave me the best and simplest advice I could ever receive and I'm forever grateful to him for it. I asked “How do I pray?” and he said “Want to.”

I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.