I receive a daily inspirational message from a good friend, James Edwin, in New Delhi, India via WhatsApp on my phone. It arrives around 3am (because of the time zone variations) and I read it at 6am when I am usually awake. It is usually just a one line insight superimposed on a stunning photograph of a church or a natural landmark. But during the past week his daily inspirational was an inventory headed “common sense health tips for all”. Lead me read them to you – and then focus on the last line.
“Don’t wait for problems to pray to God”. This text spoke to me because I must confess to having had some doubts about my ministry … and its focus. Let me explain.
Some months ago one of my colleagues at the University fell down the front steps at OPH and later died. He was not a man of outwardly obvious religious conviction but apparently he told his wife that when his time came, he wanted me to conduct his funeral … and I did. And then in the week before Christmas, the former Governor General, Michael Jeffery, whom I have known for 30 years but see only intermittently, died after a struggle with a brain tumour that lasted 18 months, during which time he asked me (rather than his rector) to conduct his state funeral … which I did in the week after Christmas. And my neighbour down Mayfield Road, former Navy surgeon captain Kerry Delaney, who is dying of pancreatic cancer, has asked me to conduct his funeral when the time comes. He is now in Clare Holland House.
As you can imagine, I am starting to get a bit of a reputation for farewelling the dead which is gratifying but also troubling. I conduct funerals for people whose faith is undeclared and who never come to church … why is my ministry to them when they are living, of little interest or lesser value to them? Is it the case that only when facing death, do people seek some comfort in the Christian hope? Why, it seems, do so many only think about God, and the world to come, when this life and this world are fading? And to complete the circle, is it the case, as the inventory from my friend James implies, that we only wait for problems to manifest before praying to God? Indeed, and let me pose this as a general question: when do we pray, what do we pray and why do we pray?
Let me ponder those three questions with you this morning because each is worth a considered answer. Let me start with when …
The ancient Jewish custom, and one taken into the Christian monasteries, was to pray seven times a day. In the Anglican prayer book, the custom is to pray morning and night.
At the start of the day – commending it to God and seeking to make the most of what lies ahead – and at the end of the day – giving thanks for what we have received and confessing the things we have done wrong. This is a good pattern to embrace. It gives the day direction and momentum. With the start of the new year, I have been using the Anglican order of prayer for the morning and the evening on my smartphone … you can download it from the Apple app story or the Samsung smart store – depending on the kind of phone you have. Sadly, I’ve got one of each – one is work and one is personal. It’s simply called Australian Daily Prayer and its free. It’s an electronic version of the daily service in the prayer book in front of you and the set bible readings are linked to a talking bible. So all you need to do is listen.
It is important to have prayer as a habit, lest it become the last resort rather than the first option. So considering the question when – the answer is whenever … but a pattern or a routine will serve you well, and turn a practice into a discipline, that imparts rhythm and structure to the day.
The second question is what do we pray? I refer you again to the helpful acronym ACTS. The Lord’s Prayer is structured in this way – that’s why it’s a model prayer. And the book on which I base our Sunday prayers takes the same approach. There are resources available that allow you to structure private prayers – and to shape your petitions: family, friends, workplace, the wellbeing of body, mind and spirit, dealing with yesterday, coping with today and preparing for tomorrow. This is the one I use.
And, of course, there are those prayers we offer spontaneously when we are confronted with something immediate or unexpected. Now you may be asking: should I pray for a car parking space at the supermarket, preferably near the front door? Probably not … well, possibly … but only after praying for everything else and all that is left to pray for … is car parking. Think about the things for which you seek God’s attention … and ask whether your prayers are narrow and limited … or wide and expansive … and then ponder whether they are worthy of you and worthy of God – it is rarely that we ask for too much; we actually accept too little.
And, finally, why do I pray? The transformative work of prayer starts with the person praying. What do I mean? From the outset, when praying you are acknowledging God’s existence and God’s capacity to hear your prayers and to pay attention to you, and what you are praying. When you pray you place yourself in a position of humility, if not vulnerability, with respect to God … you are making yourself subject to God and divine favour … and admitting you do not have everything you need to survive let alone thrive. And not a word or thought has been uttered, yet much has happened in terms of your perspective: how you see yourself and living. Prayer opens both you and the world to a divine connection; therefore, life and the created order are no longer closed systems; they are accessible to God and in a relationship with God.
When you pray, whether it is to offer praise and thanksgiving, to seek guidance and ask for help, you might find that what you have, is much more valuable than you ever realised, and that you already have, what you are asking for – but missed seeing it. Sometimes we are the answer to our own prayers; sometimes we seek something … but don’t reach out our hands to receive it or do everything to our power to reject it. Most commonly, we want the world to change but fail to realise the change begins within us – where the kingdom of God has its foundation.
I’m grateful to James in New Delhi for his daily inspirationals and his prayers for me, my family, especially Grandson Jonathon who is the subject of intercession across India, and for this church. He is a good man and his family are good people.
Like many things in life; we are drawn to the shiny and colourful packaging whereas prayer, and hearing that still small voice of calm, is now flashy or showy … but what we most want and need in a noisy world of slogans, specials and gimmicks. God is with us … and the kingdom is coming. With those things in mind, let us pray for the world, the church and ourselves.