Life Open-hearted

“Ask, and it will be given to 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 bread will give a stone?  Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake?  If you, then, who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?”

                        -- Matthew 7:7-11

            God’s people pray.  Like a newborn infant taking its first breath, when faith is born within us, so is prayer.  Knowing that God is there and that we are God’s, how can our spirit do anything else but reach out to the Lord.  Then why is it that prayer seems so hard for so many?  Why is it so awkward, why a struggle to know how to start?  Why does it so often seem like nothing’s happening, or that our prayers are left unanswered?  Questions arise, like: “Why bother to pray when God already knows everything?” or “God’s going to do what God’s going to do, so what’s the point?”

            Author Henri Nouwen acknowledges that “prayer is no easy matter… 

            …The resistance to praying is like the resistance of tightly clenched fists.  This image shows the tension, the desire to cling tightly to yourself, a greediness which betrays fear.  The story about an old woman brought to a psychiatric center exemplifies an attitude.  She was wild, swinging at everything in sight and scaring everyone so much that the doctors had to take very thing away from her.  But there was one small coin which she gripped in her fist and would not give up.  In fact, it took two men to pry open that squeezed hand.  It was as though she would lose her very self along with the coin.  If they deprived her of that last possession, she would, she would have nothing more, and be nothing more.  That was her fear.  When we are invited to pray we are asked to open our tightly clenched fists and to give up our last coin.  But who wants to do that?

                                                -- Henri Nouwen: With Open Hands

            I’m sure the disciples prayed that Jesus would be saved from the disaster that took place in Jerusalem when He was betrayed, arrested, tried, tortured, humiliated and crucified.  And yet it happened anyway.  But with the empty tomb and the surprising appearance of their Lord among them, it was clear that God had heard their prayers and responded in a way totally unexpected --  totally beyond anything they could have hoped for. 

            Easter is all about building faith, overcoming fear, and unclenching our fists.  The disciples eventually discovered that the empty tomb was a sign of hope, not fear.  As they began to encounter the Risen Jesus, they slowly realized that the pain and struggle of His death was all part of a greater blessing.  As we realize that God is actually present in and around us, working with us and through us and sometimes against us (at least against those things which are trying to keep us bound up), we open up to the life of discipleship.  We become more and more willing to follow Jesus, to trust God, and to pray.

            So welcome to the amazing world of prayer.  Prayer can be conversation, can be words out-loud or internalized, can be silent meditation or contemplation beyond words.  Prayer can be motivated by desperate need, longing and concern, joy and hope, or the simple heartfelt gratitude for the blessing of a single moment.  There are countless ways to pray, all of which lead us towards perceiving the divine aspect of things.  Praying is faith in practice, growing out of our confidence in an unseen God who loves us. 

            This month we are offering a 4-week class called Prayer: Faith in Practice.  If you’d like to get familiar with what prayer is, get a wider perspective on ways to pray, or just become more comfortable with praying (out-loud or otherwise), then this class may be just what you’re looking for.  Please come join us Wednesdays at 7pm, starting April 13. 

            Imagine a marriage where a spouse never communicates with their partner, or a child who never says a word to their parent.  Just as unthinkable is a Christian who doesn’t pray.  Our Living Lord is longing to hear from you.  Take some time today to say “Hello” to God.

Peace,

Pastor Scott