Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Sixth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.00 at St Thomas'.
If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.
Our first hymn this morning is "Thou Whose Almighty Word"
Today's Gospel
Luke 11:1-13Teaching about Prayer
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, 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 indebted to us.
And do not bring us to the time of trial."
And he said to them, "Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, `Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.' And he answers from within, `Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.' I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
"So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
Reflection
Last week I mentioned how important it can be to set aside some time on a regular basis and talk to God in stillness, as if sitting outside your own metaphorical tent like Abraham. [Gen. 18:1].
As we witness the disciples who have been observing Jesus praying, I wonder what was going through their minds as they watched Him? We know that Jesus prayed constantly, sometimes with others, and on many occasions He would go off on His own into hills or into the wilderness. Perhaps as they watched Jesus, they were in awe of His relationship with God the Father, and the sense of devotion and persistence in His prayer life.
They can obviously, sense the power of prayer that emanates from Jesus’ interaction with God and they ask, "Lord, teach us to pray." It is worth noting that they asked, ‘teach us to pray’ and not ‘how to pray’.
At first glance it might not seem that there is much difference but when we take the whole excerpt into account perhaps we may discern the subtleness of the wording.
Jesus starts by telling them the words of the Lord’s prayer which we say every day. But interestingly, the version we see here is slightly different from what we read in Matthew 6:9-13, when Jesus was telling people not to pray in public and not to babble on endlessly. Perhaps it was that Matthew remembered the wording differently to Luke's sources, or perhaps Jesus is showing us that we don’t have to be absolutely prescriptive in saying the words exactly the same every time. Praying is more than just a repetitive ritual repeated by rote. That is not to say that I am suggesting the words of the Lord’s prayer are not important, but praying is more than saying the same things over and over again – it’s about talking with God just as Jesus did.
It's also about understanding that God is always listening, and most importantly, He is ‘our’ Father. Whilst God is occasionally referred to as Father of creation, or Father of the nation Isreal in the Old Testament, Jesus was the first person to refer to God as ‘Our Father’ - Father of each of us individually.
In teaching the disciples to pray, Jesus is showing them how to build a personal relationship with God, our Holy and loving Father.
I will not dissect the whole of the Lord’s Prayer as I have done before – rather it’s worth looking at the parables Jesus tells the disciples to give them insight into praying. The story about the man shamelessly knocking his friend up in the middle of the night is about persistence. It’s also about the honour of the man in the house. In those days the whole family would live in one room and so to help his friend the whole house would be woken up – however it was the Jewish custom to provide hospitality to those in need. Jesus is implying that if providing for one another as humans is important, how much more so will it be with God who wants to give us what is good and life-giving.
In the second parable, we are invited to pray continuously – it’s not just about asking God for everything we want and asking to fix the world, it’s about being true in our convictions. This parable can sometimes feel really hard to come to terms with, especially if we keep asking God for something and our prayer doesn’t seem to be answered or it’s not answered in the way we might have wanted.
Perhaps rather then God ignoring us, it’s us who are not praying for the right thing, or maybe God is doing what is right for us but we can’t recognise it. It’s not about God’s wish to give us what He knows we need, it’s about our human inability to receive what He gives. It’s about recognising and trusting in God’s will being done. In teaching us to pray, Jesus is showing us how to build a relationship with God so we might understand his will. Paul
Our Prayers
Loving God,
As your Son, Jesus, showed us,
We pray for a deeper and more loving relationship with you.
Guide our hearts and minds to trust in your will,
and in your loving purpose for us.
Help us to see the blessings in all you do,
even when it is difficult for us to understand,
and remember that when we search, we will find you.
Amen
Our final hymn today is "Father, Hear the Prayer we Offer"
