Third Sunday in our Sermon Series on prayer – ‘Prayer Space’
Lord, help us to pray, teach us to be at home in your presence, to rest in your love, that your Kingdom may come is us. Amen.
So here we are on the third and final Sunday of our Prayer Adventure.
We started with Bill helping us think about who is the God to whom we pray, and how do we pray as Christians, in the Church and as individuals, and last week, Becka reminded us that prayer is vital for us, and she gave us lots of ideas of ways to pray.
She also spoke about being adventurous with prayer. Since we first began the Prayer Adventure 2 years ago as we led up to our first Mission Day, we have been consciously asking God to lead us where God would have us go in mission and in discipleship.
Adventuring is all about exploring, going into unknown territory – and as we pray, we explore both ourselves and the God to whom we pray. We learn what really matters to us, discover our deepest desires, find out about our fears.
On an adventure, we won’t be able to see where we will end up – what will we find at the end of the road, or maybe, the end of the rainbow.
Maybe we might find there the golden treasure that Bill spoke about which St Paul describes in his second letter to the Corinthians as being the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that we contain within us, such fragile cracked vessels as we are – the light shines out of our very wounds.
In prayer, we come to see our greatest weaknesses as our strength, as we come to know our need of God.
And as we come to see how much we depend upon God for everything, so we come to trust.
And surely at the heart of prayer must be trust?
Why would we waste our time asking God for anything if we don’t trust that God will hear and answer our prayer?
Last week Becka described the wonderful monument to be built near Birmingham – The Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer. The vision behind it came to a man called Richard Gamble over 20 years ago and each step of the project so far has come about through prayer.
To hold onto that vision over all of these years, including getting planning permission and building the database to record and manage 1 million different stories of answered prayer – all this in itself is a remarkable story of trust – and growth – how one person’s idea can become such a huge thing!
The Gospel today is full of that same remarkable growth – a tiny seed, a germ of an idea, once planted, gives rise to something huge and incredible!
And there’s the thing – the planting of the seed, the sharing of an idea – and the letting go of the ultimate outcome to God.
When we plant a seed in the ground, what are we hoping for, what are we expecting?
A tiny shoot, and then the leaves, a little plant that sprouts and grows – we do not know how – a miracle in itself!
God the creator, gives life to all things and from within the tiny seed bursts a springing flourishing plant that supports and nourishes more life.
In the Parable of the Mustard Seed – an entire tree grows from that tiny seed, and in its branches all the birds of the air can make their nests and lay their young.
Amidst the rustling leaves the baby birds are chirping and new life has sprung like a miracle of creation!
This, Jesus says – is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. And we pray, don’t we, every day, as Jesus taught us, Your Kingdom come.
Sometimes we think our prayers are not answered, but maybe the reality is they have been answered in ways too big for us to see – the result of our planting of that tiny seed is so far beyond our limited expectations that we don’t make the connection!
So trusting God to hear and answer our prayers, takes us back to the nature of God – God is not distant and unknown, but experienced in the ordinary things of every day life, a seed planted in the ground, that through God’s power becomes extraordinary – shot through with the divine spark of holiness – where new life abounds.
Prayer then, isn’t about trying the find the right words to please God or catch God’s attention, but paying attention to where we see God at work around us, and to what God is already saying and doing deep within us.
Remember how using the word itself ‘PRAY’ can help us as Becka explained last week:
P for pause – stop running around in circles, forever seeking something beyond us, but rest, breathe, let go, listen and open the ears of your heart.
Plant the seed of prayer in the ground of God’s love.
R – rejoice at all that is good, all that is growth in your life, in the lives of others, look for the shoots of new life, of possibility, let God show you what will bring you joy.
A – ask – do not be afraid little flock, says Jesus, it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom! Don’t ask for too little a thing! This is the God who gave all for us – who promises us the world, the moon and the stars – it is all for our delight – what is there to be afraid of – bring it all before God, lay out our fears and sorrows, shout and rage if you need to, let God see and hear your yearning for all to be well, for those we love, for our hurting world, for there to be peace.
Open up your imagination to all that God can do – like the tree that unfurls its boughs to welcome the birds of the air.
Y– yield – let it all go – trust God – trust in God’s time and God’s purpose, let new life blossom in your soul.
So many things can help us to pray like this – with our whole bodies, our whole selves.
As we gather for worship together, praying in all the different ways through the liturgy – through words, through the presence of dear friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ around us, each one making a difference, making the whole, each one missed when not here.
We pray through how it feels as we sit, stand, kneel, share the peace, taste the goodness of God in bread and wine, see the beauty of the space, the colours of the church year, the stained glass, the trees and sky we glimpse through the windows, the light of Christ dances in the flames of the candles and shines in the silver on the altar, and in the music our souls are raised to the very gates of heaven.
The hymn we’ll sing at the Offertory speaks about all that prayer is –
‘the soul’s sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed;
the motion of a hidden fire that trembles in the breast.
The simplest form of speech that infant lips can try,
the sublimest strains that reach the Majesty on high.’
So we learn that our whole being, lived experience and very existence is prayer – there is no one right way to pray– but many – and in the end, it is completely about trusting God – for as we see in the parable of the Mustard Seed – such small things on our part result in huge surprising and glorious outcomes through God’s power!
And this is the Kingdom of God – your kingdom come Lord, your will be done. Amen.
Service: Reverend Michelle Dalliston 16th June 2024. (St John The Baptist Church Peterborough UK)
Readings: Ezekiel 17.22-end; Psalm 92.1-4, 12-end (or 92.1-8); 2 Corinthians 5.6-10 (11-13) 14-17; Mark 4.26-34