PRAY…
Today’s sermon is the second in our series on prayer – but this isn’t just a sermon, it’s part of a Prayer Adventure! So, I looked up the word ‘adventure’ in the dictionary to find out what we were in for! And it said: ‘an unusual and exciting or daring experience’. WOW – well first of all I hope prayer isn’t an unusual experience for us, but I do hope it’s exciting and definitely ‘daring’ – prayer brings us to the feet of Jesus, it carries us into the outstretched arms of God, how daring might we be in pursuit of our God and a relationship with the one who made us?

In our readings for today we are gifted that wonderful Psalm, full of praise and prayer that starts with: ‘I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart’ – our whole heart, imagine if we used this as a starting point each time we prayed – how amazing, turning our whole self over to God each time we start to pray.

Last week in his sermon, Bill shared that God made us and longs to hear from us, longs to communicate with us, he reaches out and awaits our response – how much more incredible will that be if we come willingly, bringing our whole self, our whole heart?

The psalm then says: ‘I bow down toward your holy temple’ – here the psalmist is showing respect for a higher power, of course at that time they bowed toward the temple because they believed that is where Yahweh was, abiding in the Holy of Holies – but just a few weeks ago we celebrated Pentecost, and we know that in that wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit, God is everywhere, and as Bill shared last week, we need only to find time and space to ‘be’ with God and the Holy Spirit will be at work in that space as we lean in to pray and listen.

The psalmist bowed down, but do we think about our posture as we pray? The way we place our body might really help us in our prayer time. In church kneeling has always been a prayer position, and this may help to focus our attention. Some might like to stand with arms outstretched or hands together, for others relaxing on a comfy sofa might help their focus. As you prepare to pray, be aware of your body and know what works for you to enable you to really centre your attention.

The psalmist then says: ‘On the day I called, you answered me’ – God answered the psalmists prayer! There are many, many examples right through the old and new testaments of prayers being answered – do we pray believing and trusting that God will answer?

I don’t know if any of you are aware of a new monument that’s about to start being built in the West Midlands? It’s called the ‘Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer’. The design is a mobius loop and every single brick, and there are one million of them, will hold a story of a prayer that has been answered. In time, once construction is complete, the idea is that you will be able to visit, point your smartphone camera at a brick and the story of the answered prayer will come up. The arch of the loop will stand 169 feet high, that’s over 51 metres, twice the height of the angel of the North, it’ll be visible for over 6 miles, and it’s anticipated that over five hundred, thousand people will drive past it each week! It’ll be the largest symbol of Christian hope in the world, but if that wall contains evidence that God has answered one million prayers, from people that are alive now – so just in our lifetimes – imagine how many more answered prayers there are that we don’t hear about or know about.

We must pray with absolute trust and belief that our prayers, however small, however big, will be answered in some way. Possibly not immediately, and quite often not at all in the way we expect – but they will be answered.

Last week Bill talked about prayer being twofold, individual and corporate and here we are, together, gathered, praying as one. The psalm that we have just joined in corporately, brought us together in prayer, praise and worship – one body worshipping together. The word psalm means ‘song accompanied by a musical instrument’, but of course many were written in response to particular events in David’s life, and all call out directly to God in Prayer.

In our gospel reading we heard that comment made by Jesus where he appears to disown his family as he asks: ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?”’ However, he then looks around and says: ‘“Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.”’ When we pray, we are doing the will of God and being drawn into that wider family that Jesus spoke of, we are part of the family of God. There are other ways and opportunities to pray corporately and I would really encourage you to join in where you can – it really is powerful when we gather to pray as one body, one family of God.

However, Bill also talked about being realistic and thinking about what works for you, your
lifestyle and commitments. Can we ever get prayer wrong? I don’t think so. What is key, is that we come before God as ourselves – as it’s little, unique, us that God wants to engage with, not a form of ourselves. All too often, and frequently with corporate prayer, we put on our masks of restraint. We are cautious about what others might think, or we wonder if we are doing or saying the right thing. But God reaches out to us – remember he wants to communicate with us – if we can abandon our masks and allow ourselves to be loved, healed, forgiven and pulled into relationship with Him, and sometimes that does mean being vulnerable in front of others, we will be commissioned as His co-workers, and our prayer really will take on a new dimension as it draws us closer to God.

So what’s holding us back? Busy lives often get in the way, and we heard right at the
beginning of our gospel reading that even Jesus was too busy to eat! However, we must be
reminded of how often, despite this very busy life, he withdrew to pray in quiet, and this both strengthened and affirmed his relationship with the Father and the Spirit and allowed the scars of human misunderstanding and pain to be healed. Where can you find your silence, your space both physically and mentally? What might we use to enhance our time of prayer?

I recall Bill mentioning apps. Last week, and I have to confess I have not just one, but quite
a few different prayer apps on my phone. I have one where I can log streets or places I pray
for – this is my little part in something much bigger, where the plan is to ensure every street in this country is prayed for over the next couple of years – being a small cog in something bigger, knowing I’m making a difference really inspires me to pray when I’m out and about.

I have an app for the Church of England Daily Prayer; Prayermate; Isaiah 61; Daily Devotion;
Godsend; Lectio 365 and then whichever Church of England app is current such as Thy
Kingdom Come – it sounds a lot, however they all do slightly different things and support slightly different purposes – I probably do need to slim them down a little, but really what I’m trying to say is that there really is something for everyone if you are an app. kind of person.

What about books – there are literally thousands to choose from and sometimes that can put us off. I like books with pictures – others might find that a distraction – go to the shop and have a leaf through to find something that supports you. There are opportunities to pray via zoom with others or individually by tuning into a service of praise and worship on the TV; we have our cycle of prayer to give prayer prompts and little prayer cards for support…

Gosh, so much advice, but in the end it comes down to you and God, a simple alarm set on your phone for the same time each day might be the best way for you to come before God. If we look at the letters of the word PRAY – we can create a little acrostic – with P standing for ‘Pause’ as we stop, relax and recentre before praying. The R standing for ‘Rejoice’ and ‘Reflect’ – where we can rejoice in a short bible reading and then reflect on it, or we might reflect on our day and where we saw God at work. The A stands for ‘Ask’, as we come before God asking for answers to our specific prayers. The Y stands for ‘Yield’, as we yield to God’s will for us and listen for his voice in our hearts.

I implore you to join this prayer adventure and find a holy habit that fits your lifestyle, excites you and brings you into an ever-closer relationship with God.
Amen.

Service: Rev Rebecca Yates, 13th June 2024. (St John The Baptist Church Peterborough UK)

Readings: Psalm 138