Last week, we started a discussion on prayer asking, “What is prayer?” and “What is prayer for?” I began last week by sharing with you that the topic of prayer was borne out of work that I completed on creating an experience to discover inner peace. Today, I provided you a copy of the invitation and outline of that experience which I hope to begin in late April. We talked last week and will do so again today that inner peace and prayer are connected. No prayer, no peace.
How are peace and prayer connected? Let me offer one familiar illustration of the connection between prayer and peace. One night long ago, some words were shouted from heaven to those on a hillside near the town of Bethlehem. The words from heaven were an answer to the prayers of many. From the heavens, it was heard, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests” (Luke 2:14). These words were the words of angels upon the birth of a baby in Bethlehem. The child was a boy who would be named Jesus.
For centuries, the people of Israel prayed for peace. In that moment on the hillside of Bethlehem, God did not answer the prayer for peace to fall upon the earth as though it was rain. Instead, in that moment, God’s own Son was born to be peace. Jesus was an answer to prayer. Jesus was and is peace and Jesus came to share that peace in human form that we could know true peace.
Peace is essential to life and was found in the essence of creation itself. The opening words of the Bible are בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים בְּרֵאשִׁית, (re'shiyth bara’ ‘elohiym), “In the beginning God created.” Literally, there was God and then life and time as we know it began. In the beginning, everything, God, humanity, and nature were at peace. But it did not stay that way. Once peace was disturbed by sin, people began to pray. A wise and learned man once told me that the core of every prayer is an expression to God that peace would be restored whether it is peace of mind, peace in the body, peace about a decision, or peace in a relationship. Peace is at the heart of all our desires.
It would seem then anything we might consider that brings us peace would be worthy of prayer. Isn’t it true that last week we read that Jesus said to his disciples, “13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name” (John 14:13). We see those words of Jesus expressed in greeting cards, in exchanges in church settings, on tee-shirts, and coffee cups. Certainly, if we think something will bring us peace and we ask God for it, isn’t obligated to give it to us? We would like to think that is so, but it is not true for one key reason. Our coffee cups cut short the full quote of Jesus’ words, “13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). We do need to pray about anything and everything, but the product, the result, of our requests to God must necessarily glorify God and bring peace for the subject of our prayer.
I think people drop the second half of that verse from the Gospel of John because it is hard to understand. Prayer can be hard for us to understand because many of our prayers seem good, noble, and right and yet they do not seem to be answered. When our prayers seem to be unanswered, then we can lose faith and wonder about God’s promises or His goodness. When our prayers seem to be unanswered, we might wonder did I do something wrong or am I not do something right that God is not hearing me? We wonder, “Am I the reason God did not do what I asked?”
I think these questions are natural when we do not see God do as we ask, even when what we ask for seems like a good thing. In my experience, these deep questions about the effectiveness of prayer tend to surface most often when the subject of our prayers is someone we love. Most, if not all of us, have faced or will face such a moment when the subject of our prayer is someone whom we love who is gravely ill. We pray for the life of our loved one to continue, which is a good thing. And yet sometimes our loved one does not recover and dies. We think and even ask aloud, “What happened to my prayer?”
The Apostle Paul shared with us some insights into this moment of struggling between life and death. “21 For to me, [Paul said] to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” (Philippians 1:21-23). Paul was explaining that life in the body is precious and gives us the opportunity for fruitful labor which would include ministry but also includes loves, family, friendships, and fellowship. So, praying for continued life in the body is appropriate and we should pray for our loved ones who are gravely ill. But Paul also said, to depart this life is to live with Christ which was to Paul better than living in the body. Paul said he was torn, he was in conflict, as to which life, the life in the body or life in Christ, was the right answer for him in that moment because both forms of life are good.
What do Paul’s words then tell us? Paul tells us we should make our loved ones who are gravely ill the subject of our prayers and make our appeal on their behalf known to God. And yet, Paul points out, that we must recognize that in our praying, we are leaving to God to wrestle with the conflict for our loved one as to which life is the better choice for them, which life will bring the greater peace for our loved one. Sometimes, God sees that the choice of peace for our loved one is that they depart and be with Christ. If the very essence of every prayer is to bring peace, then our petition for God to bring peace to our loved one was answered. Answered prayer is not always easy for us to accept. For Paul’s words help us to understand that our prayers in these critical moments of life are answered and that answer does bring peace for our loved ones for whom we prayed.
Prayer can be hard for us to understand because many of our prayers seem good, noble, and right and yet they do not seem to be answered. We remember, Jesus said, “13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). Sometimes, we ask for things we think are good but God sees that they are not, in fact, good and the answer from God is “No.” Consider for a moment the prayer of James and John.
James and John were brothers and were among the earliest followers of Jesus. James and John would become two of Jesus’ twelve apostles. Not only that, but James and John along with Peter were part of the innermost circle of Jesus’ Apostles. James and John were present when Jesus raised a child to life. They were present when Jesus was transfigured, and his glory shone as bright as lightning. James and John were present when Jesus prayed in Gethsemane. James and John knew Jesus better than any other set of Apostles.
One day, “35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him [Jesus]. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’” Does that sound familiar? James and John were asking the Son of God for something. That is called prayer. “36 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he [Jesus] asked. 37 They [James and John] replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.’ 38 ‘You don’t know what you are asking,’ Jesus said” (Mark 10:35-38a).
James and John asked for a good thing. They wanted to be as close to Jesus as possible with one on his right side and the other on his left side. But Jesus said, “You don’t know what you are asking.” Meaning, James and John had no real idea as to the significance of their request. James and John did not or could not foresee all the implications of their request for themselves or the impact granting their prayer would have on the lives of others. Look at Mark 10:41, “41 When the ten [other apostles} heard about this [James’ and John’s prayer to Jesus], they became indignant with James and John” (Mark 10:41). James and John asked for a good thing but granting their petition would not bring about peace that God desired. Jesus’ answer to James and John was thus “No.” Sometimes, even when we ask for good things for ourselves, the answer is “no” because we don’t really know what we are asking for. God protects us from our own prayers.
Prayer can be hard for us to understand because many of our prayers seem good, noble, and right and yet they do not conform to God’s desires. What then can we do to shape our prayer life and obtain the peace that prayer is intended to bring? I think there three things that will help us.
First, we need to pray was Jesus instructed us in what we call the Lord’s Prayer. We talked about that last Sunday.
Second, we need to pray for specific things that Jesus said were inherently part of God’s will for our lives. Let’s look at that point just a bit.
In the Gospel of Matthew, we have recorded Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus talked throughout the sermon about seeking after righteousness. Jesus said to his disciples.
- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6)
- Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10).
- For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20)
- But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33).
The point seems clear. Seeking righteousness, seeking a right relationship with God that then leads to right relationships with other people, is not only a good thing that brings peace but asking for, praying for, the righteousness of God is inherently in the will of God. In fact, Jesus said in this sermon on righteousness, that 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7). In context of what Jesus was saying, the “it” is not anything, the “it” here is God’s righteousness. We should ask and pray for righteousness to be poured into our lives and God will do so because Jesus’ promised to live in a righteous manner is inherently part of God’s will. Now, here is some more good news. In righteousness we will be satisfied. If we are satisfied, we have peace.
Let’s look at one more example of prayer guaranteed by Jesus. Jesus said to his disciples, “12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you… and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other” (John 15:12, 16b-17) Jesus told his disciples that loving each other was a new command. In fact, so significant was this command that Jesus said the single criteria the world would use to know who Jesus’ followers were was their love for one another. And so, we have this statement from Jesus about prayer that is bound between two “Love Each Other” bookends. Jesus’ words create a “love, pray, love” relationship. This means, the pray for anything part of the love, pray, love statement is not that for a anything imaginable. The “pray for anything” of this love, pray, love statement is that we pray for help to follow Jesus’ command to love one another. Love each other, Jesus said and then pray for anything you need to follow that command and God will give it to you. We should ask and pray for the spirit of love to be strengthened within us. Ask that such a spirit be poured into our lives and God will answer such a prayer because Jesus said such prayers are inherently part of God’s will. If we pray for a spirit of love towards others, God will answer that prayer and we will have peace.
We need to pray for those things such as righteousness and spirit of love that the Bible guarantees will be answered.
Third, and finally, we should pray for our own eternal life. One time, Jesus met a Samaritan woman a well. Jesus asked the woman for a drink of water, but the women declined Jesus’ request. Jesus then told the woman, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water…[For]
Everyone who drinks this water [well water] will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:10, 13-14).
Jesus was sharing with this woman that eternal life is available if we ask, read that as pray, for it. We should be praying continually for Jesus to be in our life as that deep well that we can go to every moment of every day to be refreshed as we encounter life in this world whether it is a moment of joy, challenge, or repetition. We should pray that God refreshes us to that we do not lose sight of our own salvation and eternal life. I can think of nothing more important for peace than knowing our life is eternal. To know our life is eternal is the ultimate answer to all our prayers. For in eternal life, we know that enemies of God, who are enemies of us as well, are destined to fail. For we know, that with eternal life good will triumph, love will prevail, and death will be swallowed up.
Prayer can be hard for us to understand but that should not keep us from praying. We need to pray and feel God’s peace. We need to pray and let God decide the best answers. We need to pray for righteousness for ourselves. We need to pray for the spirit of love that we can love one another. We need to pray for the ultimate victory in Christ through eternal life. In prayer, we will have peace. Let us pray now.