Prayer is Relational
By Janet Nordlund --
It’s Community Sunday, HOORAY!!! We get to be all together for our service time and then afterwards keep the connecting going with a yummy potluck meal. Our focus for the morning will be PRAYER in the upside-down kingdom.
“He was praying in a certain place, and when He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” Luke 11:1
The followers of Jesus made an excellent request of him:
“Teach us how to pray like you pray.”
It was really normal for Jewish teachers or Rabbis to teach their followers or disciples how to pray and connect to God. Jesus’ followers were good Jewish folk who grew up with prayer and praying all around them in the synagogues, in the Temple, in the streets, and as part of feasts and festivals. They were very familiar with praying.
But Jesus was doing so much praying, and in such a way, that they wanted to be taught by Him how to pray. Another way to look at this question might be:
“Jesus you seem really connected to God and to people. We want to be like that. How do we be like you?”
Jesus answers their question clearly and simply with the now famous words of what is called The Lord’s Prayer.
"Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."
Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Luke 11:2-4
AND he responds to the question behind the question, too. Jesus teaches and lives out that PRAYER is RELATIONAL.
We RELATE to God through prayer, we RESPOND to God through prayer, and we RECEIVE and GIVE from God through prayer.
Sounds kinda big?!? IT IS. Great news, Jesus gives us everything we need to pray and be like Him. As he wraps up his “Prayer 101 Jesus Style chat” with his disciples, he says this,
"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Luke 11:13
Let’s ask The Holy Spirit to teach us together this Sunday as we pursue connecting to God and to each other through prayer in many engaging ways.