“Teach us how to pray,” Jesus’ disciples ask him, and he gives a pretty solid outline, which we’ve been exploring this week. Then he talks about the receiving end, God’s responsiveness to our prayers. He tells a somewhat amusing story about a guy being woken up in the middle of the night by a friend in need, who responds not to the friend’s need, but to his persistence. Jesus’ punch line is, “‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” In case they didn’t get it the first time, he says, “For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Does this mean we get everything we ask for in prayer? Find everything we’re looking for? Every door we knock on is opened to us? I don’t know about your life, but mine hasn’t gone that way. And that disjoint is enough to put some people off the whole enterprise of prayer.
Let’s remember: prayer is not a laundry list of things we want presented to genie. Prayer is a conversation in the context of a living relationship. We make our requests because God invites us to, the same way a human parent wants her children to ask for the unicorn even if there’s no way to grant that wish – you want the conversation to reflect her heart. And you’re unlikely to give her a viper instead.
So God, the Father in heaven, Jesus suggests, wants us to ask for the desires of our hearts, wants us to seek the truth, wants us to knock on the doors separating us from divine presence. And does Jesus say we will get what we “pray for?” He goes us one better: “How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’”
Maybe the Holy Spirit doesn’t sound like much if you wanted healing for a loved one, or a better job. Yet here’s the thing: the gift of the Spirit is the gift with everything. The Holy Spirit brings the life of God into our hearts and minds and bodies. With more of the Spirit alive in us, we are so much better equipped to help bring about healing, to use our gifts at a higher level of functioning, to dwell in the kind of peace that enables us to bring joy and light into all kinds of situations. The Spirit equips us for ministry and gives all kinds of other gifts… love, joy, patience, forebearance. The Spirit prays through us, we are told in Romans – and you can be pretty sure God will answer a prayer that started with God.
How about today you sit down in stillness for a few minutes, take a few deep “in-spiring” breaths,let out some stale thoughts and feelings on the exhales, and then invite the Holy Spirit to come and play.
“Spirit of God,” you might say (or “Spirit of Christ”), “I’d like to feel your presence in me. I’d like to feel the peace you bring. I’d like to know what you’re praying through me, what holy encounters you might be equipping me for today. I’d like to make more space for you.”
Pay attention to what you feel in your body - do you feel energy anywhere? A tingle? A relaxing? A rush? We don’t always have a physical response to the Spirit’s visits, but sometimes. Pay attention to what you feel in your mind and in your spirit – do any images take shape? Do you receive any words or conversation or a desire to do something, pray for someone, go somewhere?
Write it down if you noted anything significant. Share it with someone.
If you don’t sense anything, that’s okay – God may be taking some time, or your receptors need some tuning. Keep at it – the time we spend inviting more of God’s life into our lives is never wasted. Amen?
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