Matthew 6: 5-13

Teach me how to pray

I am sure that some if not all of you would agree with me when I say that there is nothing more important than prayer.  I work at Addenbrookes Hospital and every lunchtime I go and sit in the chapel for 20 to 30 mins and when I started there my colleagues asked, "Why is it so important to you?" The answer is very simple and twofold - I need to pray because Jesus did and I want to follow his example.  And I want to have the closest relationship I possibly can with God.

The disciples wanted to follow that example too and that was why they asked Jesus to teach them to pray,

This weekend we set out to try to teach different ways of praying here in this church - but I'll come to that later.

So why did the disciples want Jesus to teach them.  Well Jesus himself was always praying.  After he had healed the sick he would go off quietly and pray.  He prayed for those who persecuted him and he prayed that we would all be forgiven.  He told us that whatever we ask for in prayer we will receive.  Jesus prayed when things were good, he prayed when things were desperate, he prayed when he wanted to talk to his Father.   Jesus was the Son of God. If Jesus needed all that time in prayer, don't you think that you and I need time in prayer too.

Paul talks constantly about prayer.  In his first letter to the Corinthians he says "devote yourselves to prayer" in his letter to the Philippians he says "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  If we use the bible to guide us than we must pray.  And I am sure that we do because everyone prays only some don't know that they are doing it.

Have you ever listened to the people around you?

During their normal everyday living they might not even give God the time of day, or even acknowledge that he exists but when a crisis hits then they hit the "Spiritual 999" emergency number.  "God, help me!" you hear it all the time.  When I hear it then I tend to tell the person who said it that if they tell God what they need help with then he will help them.  Everyone calls on God, everyone prays.  Jesus assumes that to be the case because in verse 5 of our reading today, He doesn't say "if you pray" he says "when you pray." Everyone prays.

That's not the issue, the issue is whether our prayers are authentic or not.  What do I mean by that - well do we actually talk to God or do we just go through the same old routine every day because it's what's expected of us, it's what religious people; it's what we've always done.  God wants us to have a relationship with him a real relationship one that we cannot live without.  He wants us to talk to him not just about the things that trouble us, the things that worry us, but about the things that please us, the things that make us laugh as well as the things that make us cry.  He doesn't just want us to come to him with a list of wants and moans.  He wants to be a part of our life, every minute of every day not just at a set time when we sit down to pray.  Yes it is important to set aside time to sit and pray about the things of the world, the community or people we know who are ill they are all important issues and all need prayer.  I don't know how I would have survived this past yearWithout your prayers.  Praying for others is vital and I would not knock that or detract form it but we need more than that - God needs more than that.  He wants us to talk to him when we wake up, when we get in the shower or go downstairs to make that first cup of tea.  He wants us to talk to him when good things happen to us on the way to work as well as when bad things happen - arrow prayers are easy and it should be just as easy to talk to God all day every day and to make him a part of what is going on in our lives.  Of course he already knows what is going on but it is still good to talk to him about how it is for us - good and bad.  Prayer is not always about being nice to God either - if you are upset with him then tell him - he knows anyway but by telling him how you feel you build up that relationship.  I love God with all my heart, I couldn't live without him and I know that he loves me unconditionally and so if I want to shout then I can and I do and if I want

to sulk then I can because he will still be there when I come round.  Don't be afraid of upsetting God - he is big enough to take it and he will love you no matter what.

The plain fact is that we live in the grace of a God who loves us right now as much as he is ever going to love us. No matter what.  And he will never love us any less than he does right now.  No matter what.

So open up your life and invite Him in.  Don't just come to him when you need something, live with him day in, day out.

Put yourself in God's shoes for just a moment. Imagine if you are God, and everyday you've got millions of prayers flying at you all the time.  It must be like getting different phone calls from different people a bit like getting a call from a telesales person versus a call from your best friend. One's trying to manipulate you, the other just wanting a chat about life, one's trying to impress you, the other just wants to share their day with you, one's trying to twist your arm, the other wants to listen to you too, one's trying to meet a sales quota, the other just wants to show you they love you. One is about meeting the deadline the other one is simply about relationship. If you were God which one would you prefer to listen to?  Of course God listens to all of us and he doesn't choose between those who pray well and those who don't, but it does make you stop and think.

But we all have to start somewhere.  If we have never prayed before or only in church then how do we start?  What if we have always done it the same way and we are bored with it how do we change it what else can we do to make it interesting.

This weekend some put together 0ur School for Prayer - we wanted to help anyone who wanted to know how to pray.  There are different areas with different ways to pray.    

There was an area using water as the theme.  Water is cleansing, refreshing, life giving just like Jesus.

There was a quiet area with candles and prayer books to just sit and be with God.  

There were things to help you with praying, the hand prayer, prayer using strands of wool, ACTS which was the theme we used for the weekend with talks on Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving & supplication.

There was an area, which used pictures to pray.  Different pictures that we can use every day to help our prayers to help us to talk to God.

We wanted to give a variety of ways to pray and we hoped it would be helpful and we had some positive feedback from those who came.

We need to recognise that as a church we must come together to pray.  We will never move forward if we don't pray together.  The whole of our church life needs to be underpinned with prayer.  We have a serious financial problem and we need to pray about it.  Not just once or twice but constantly and together.  We want to be a church in the community bringing others to know Jesus but we will never succeed if we don't pray together and encourage one another in prayer.

We need to pray together.  We need to have prayer ministry times here in church so we can pray for one another and we need to encourage one another to ask for prayer because when we are in need it helps to have others pray with you not just for you.

It is an amazing feeling when you pray with someone and the Spirit moves.  I wish I could bottle it because everyone should experience it because once you have then you would find it hard to live without.

There are so many things we could and should be doing but without prayer we will keep hitting a brick wall and getting nowhere.  We need to be a praying community and not just praying individuals who come together on a Sunday.

We all want to do great things for Jesus.  We all want to follow his example and we all want to bring others to know the love of Jesus.  We all need to build our relationship with God it is a daily thing not a one off.

Help us to make church a place where good things happen through prayer and tell us how you think we can make it work.  We are open to all ideas and suggestions.  The team who put this together and your ministry team are happy to say "Jesus, teach us to pray" are you willing to come and learn too.

And finally when you pray don't forget to listen for the answer, it may not always be easy to hear!