July 24, 2022 - The Seventh Sunday After Pentecost - The "Our Father" Prayer and Preparing for Persistent Prayer

Jesus prays in a certain place, when his friends asked him to teach them to pray. (Luke 11:1) I always focused on the words of the Our Father that follow. But today it was that certain place that stopped me in my mental tracks. Was the first teaching on prayer, for the disciples and for me, to become aware of the place you pray.

I thought about last week's Gospel that took place in a certain village. In both there is an awareness drawn to a place without being specific.

There is, at least, an implication here that Jesus had a special place for prayer. Yet he does not tell the disciples "Start by going to a special place that promotes prayer." or "Ground yourself." which many of us find helpful. Should we be asking ourselves, "What kind of place was it?, "Was it carefully chosen or found at the spur of the moment?" Where did Jesus choose to pray before teaching the Our Father?

Pastor Glenn, when he began to preach, prepared and centered all of us for prayer. He taught us the American Sign Language sign for relationship. When we pray we are in relationship with God, ourselves and each other. Jesus is checking in with God, then himself and is then ready to engage with the disciples. We are a relationship with God in prayer that startes with acknowledging that we set God apart and special (with the word "hallowed". We are set apart, through relationship with God, as well by recognizing that relationship.

The sermon then moved to centering prayer, which Pastor Glenn posed as a way to be in relationship with the God within ourselves. This kind of prayer turns out to be somewhat controversial in some circles which argues that Christian meditation focuses on scripture, whereas the Centering Prayer focuses on silence. In Christian meditation, the mind is devoted to the studying and reflection of scriptures and the Lord. Engaging in the Centering Prayer, the mind is allowed to wander.

Should we be concerned about how we pray? I take heart in what Jesus says to reassure the disciples. He talks about persistence being an important component and trust that God response will not be harmful. I have learned more about the power of prayer this year. Persistence is important because it allows us to become more cognizant of what God's response is and what precisely you are praying for.