Retreat in Prayer

[0:00] Lord, may the words of my mouth and meditation of all our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites.

[0:15] Matthew 6 starts with Jesus having some strong teaching, and this is some strong teaching because it formed part of the teaching, as we've read before, Matthew 5 for the Sermon on the Mount. And here Jesus is teaching his people, teaching those that have come. Jesus was himself a Jew and was passing comment on what he observed and what he was seeing, as people were wanting to go into a deeper, deeper relationship with the Lord. It was very open, it was with people worshipping together. And Jesus is then saying, but be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. Because if you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be honoured by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward in full. Ouch! That's tough teaching. That must have been radical to hear.

[1:20] But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that you may be giving in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. It's all about this relationship thing that we're exploring this morning.

[1:39] You know, they have been with Jesus, his disciples, they have seen glimpses of that deep, deep relationship he has with the Father. And they want to mirror that. They want more.

[1:50] So they are asking, Lord, what is this all about? Because we're hearing your teaching, we're seeing it. Would you show us more and more? And I sense that Jesus is responding to the disciples' desire and hunger to grow deeper and deeper in their apprenticeship to him.

[2:10] After all, they asked him, Lord, teach us to pray. Lord, would you show us? Would you show us what this thing is that you have? This relationship you have? Because we want that as well. We want that deeper relationship. And Jesus is laying down some sound advice that prayer isn't about grand outward gestures. Look at me. Look how clever my prayer language is. But that deep, deep, heartfelt engagement with the Father heart of God. As Jesus was modelling to them so often. It's about relationship. We all know what our relationships are like with people. We know whether it's a genuine relationship. We know whether it's just a one-sided relationship where maybe we're having to give and the other person is taking. But this is a relationship that Jesus wants to model that is a shared relationship with the Father. What a great gift that was. And what a great gift that is to each and every one of us.

[3:16] You know, I always find it interesting on those occasions where somebody who you know really well, you know, you're chatting along to them every day, you know them, whatever. And it gets to that prayer time and their voice changes. They go all posh when they talk to God. Have you noticed that?

[3:33] You know, it's sort of, oh Lord. Oh, I beseech thee, Lord, that you, you know, you're thinking, hang on. Wouldn't my friends think I was a bit weird if suddenly I started changing my voice? You know, when I talk to you on the street, oh yeah, oh Lord, it's great to see you today.

[3:53] It's interesting, isn't it? There are stories of this is all about relationship and a real relationship that the disciples had seen in Jesus. And they said, yeah, we want some of that too.

[4:07] The old story goes of a lovely Pentecostal Christian lady who was living next door to an atheist. And she'd go out into a garden and quite rightly, prayer was part of her every day.

[4:18] And she would say, and she would give thanks to the Lord for things. Just, she would say, praise the Lord, praise the Lord. So as she goes out into a garden, she thought, what a marvellous day, Lord. Praise the Lord. Whereupon her atheist neighbour would shout over, ha, there is no God. And they had quite this loving relationship, as friendships do, but she went out one day and she was being really honest with the Lord and she was praying in her garden, just as she did out there. She's saying, Lord, you know, it's a tough week. And I'm just not going to stretch this week, the finances. You know, Lord, I really need some groceries. But Lord, I praise you. Praise the Lord. Next morning she wakes up and there on her doorstep are groceries.

[5:06] And she goes out and she's quite emotional and says, thank you, Lord. Praise the Lord. Whereupon the atheist neighbour jumps out and says, ha, I bought you those groceries. There is no God.

[5:19] And she smiles at her neighbour and says, oh Lord, not only did my atheist neighbour hear my prayer, but also Satan brought my groceries. Praise the Lord.

[5:35] The thing is, in our relationship as Jesus talks about prayer, this morning as we go in deeper into scripture, we experience a God who develops and wants to develop a deep relationship with us.

[5:49] But a relationship that is built on trust, commitment, love, grace, all that Jesus has for us that we so often take for granted. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near.

[6:07] While he is near, 24-7. That relationship that is ongoing. And as lovely as much as it is that we we gather here, this is a relationship that we take with us and we have brought with us. I remember once just down here in the early days of coming together as an ecumenical partnership and there was a lady who had visited us from elsewhere and she said, I got nothing out of worship today.

[6:37] And I said, what did you bring? And it isn't what you take, it's what you bring in a relationship. This is the thing in our relationship with God. It's not only what we take, but what we bring to him. And when you read on in Matthew here, the disciples wanted to know how to pray.

[6:56] And so in the words, Jesus shows us how to pray in the way that millions know as the Lord's Prayer. And have used and have treasured and have used in so many settings. The construction of the Lord's Prayer is a piece of genius. It has to because it comes from the Lord. But Jesus gave this to his disciples and to us because if you want to know how to pray, pray as Jesus taught us. But before we get to pray, Jesus is talking to us in the scripture, I believe, about getting our hearts right. When you come to prayer, it's about getting your heart right in honesty and openness in a relationship with Jesus. Jesus was very perceptive. I love modern day observational comedians. Because modern observational comedians say the things that we see in everyday life and relate them so well that we laugh at them.

[8:02] I personally find it more and more as I'm becoming like Victor Maldry. I'm finding it more and more as I laugh at these observational comments who point out things and I'm thinking, oh my goodness, that's me. And so Jesus is pointing out very much as we recognize the situations that we relate to that Jesus knows all about and connects with us and so can connect with us and appreciate. And Jesus commented on what many people were seeing in this scripture.

[8:38] Take care, says Jesus, about your motives when you come to pray. You know, when you come to pray, if you're just doing it to get noticed, that's probably not the right motive. If you're doing it to get recognition for something or seeking in your heart to be really clever, that's probably not the right prayer posture to come in. To be seen for what you do rather than what you do behind the scenes.

[9:11] Jesus is just pointing out maybe to them what is clearly obvious to them within the culture. I often see pictures in the local press of people handing over a check and there's some really, really worthy causes and praise God for that as well. Again, for those things, but you look behind, that's fine, but I always think for those things, be careful what your motives are.

[9:39] You know, are your motives to be seen or are they not to be seen? Think about that. Jesus is saying to them, if you're getting lots of kudos from being seen to give, then you've probably been rewarded already.

[9:51] This is very clear in the scripture this morning of what we're exploring and what we're examining. And Jesus said, again, reinforces this. And when you pray, don't pray like they do publicly on the street corners. And, you know, in the synagogues with all the trumpets and the chanting and the razzmatazz that goes with it, it's like you're giving. It's not showtime. Jesus is just pointing out a warning and an obvious thing. When you pray, make it personal, make it relational, make it honest, real, have an honest conversation, an honest conversation with Jesus, like we had in that Lord's Prayer. Be honest. Maybe there's a line that comes out and you think, I need to dwell on that, and really go in and be honest with Jesus. Have an honest conversation. And when Jesus says, go off into your room, he's making a radical point to those that were listening within the culture.

[10:45] He's not saying, do away with public prayer. He's not saying that at all. He's saying, you can have a personal relationship with the Father wherever you are. You don't have to be tied to ritual to get in contact with the Father. Pray 24-7. That's what his disciples saw.

[11:07] That's what they were experiencing. That's what they wanted more and more from him. How do you do this, Jesus? You know, when you just drop everything and you just go off, what's that all about?

[11:19] Because there's like people here waiting for you to talk, but you just disappear and go off. And Jesus is saying, that's really important for me, because we all need that time out in our day with the Father. He's being radical. He's making a point. For the Jews were saying the daily Shema, it had to be said daily. Three passages of Scripture recited. And then in the evening, I think there's the Shem and Ezra, I'm sure. That was another group of prayers that had to be said.

[11:50] And they are lovely. I'm sure they are wonderful prayers. And where Jesus was making an observation and commenting is because, I guess, when we just rattle through those things, and they have to be done, where's the relationship? Where's the relationship when you just feel as though you have to do those things? It was maybe more about routine than relationship. And when prayer becomes more about routine than relationship, Jesus is saying, no. Wash your heart.

[12:26] Have the relationship. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. This was a social comment. Jesus, of all people, is the one to comment, not for us to judge. He was making a comment on what he was seeing. And wanted Jesus, knew how to speak and hear the Father's voice. He knew how to make that connection. He knew that God wanted to have a personal relationship with each and every one of us. But the formality, the robotic, the repetitive, the institutional liturgy, maybe, for many of us, have got in the way. And that has certainly been my experience in times in my life, where liturgy has been extremely helpful, but on occasions, liturgy has got in the way. And maybe, like you, I've rushed my way through the Lord's Prayer on numerous occasions. We just run it out, don't we? We know it well.

[13:30] And yet, maybe we fail to pause in those places as we heard in that prayer there. Maybe to just hold on to a point and say, as I pause in the Lord's Prayer, this precious prayer that is given, what does this bit really mean to me? Where do you want me to pray into that? Where do you want me to be honest with you, Lord? Where do I really want to hear you? Where do I really want to connect with you in this? Where do I want the Holy Spirit to draw my attention to a particular point?

[14:06] I thought it was really interesting, at different points in the Lord's Prayer, where, you know, where maybe we are facing temptation at times, to just dwell on that and say, Lord, where are I, where, you know, deliver me from this. Take me away, show me where I'm being tempted, show me where this relationship, this beautiful relationship that we have, just point it out. I always value, I always value a good friend. They always say, you know, a good friend that can tell you what nobody else can tell you, you know, those things that you can say, you know, and I think that's a great relationship with Jesus. I'm going to be totally honest with you, Clive. I'm going to be totally honest with you. This isn't good, is it? No, no, it's not. This isn't my finest hour, is it? No, it's not Clive. Okay, we're back on track, we're back on track. Is that okay? That's the relationship.

[15:02] And Jesus was saying to his disciples, it doesn't have to be about this, this is about personal relationship. So Jesus gives his followers this prayer. It's radical stuff. It's personal, concise, direct, intimate, challenging, as you would expect, our Father in heaven.

[15:22] There was a dear lady who I know who came to an eight o'clock communion, and it was great. It was Book of Common Prayer, eight o'clock in the morning, and for her, the Book of Common Prayer was God's Word for her revealed. I'm sure she thought Jesus really did speak in that language as well. Almighty and most merciful God, for those only in gifts that cometh, that thy faithful people do unto thee true and laudable service. Grant, we beseech thee, that we may so faithfully serve thee in this life, that we may fall not, and thereby attain thy heavenly promises through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. My goodness, did she know her Book of Common Prayer? And in fact, this was with this particular lady. She would correct me if I got one syllable wrong. And in fact, if I happened to get my collects in a twist, or my litany didn't match my proper prefaces,

[16:29] I think she knew the book better than Cramnod did. And yet one day, and she would haul me up at the door on the way out and tell me where I'd got it wrong or where I hadn't paused. My goodness, did she know her Book of Common Prayer? But one day, there was an empty seat, and there was an empty seat in the church where she always sat every morning at eight o'clock. And I was so worried because I'd missed my debrief that morning at the door. I genuinely missed my debrief. And so worried was I that I gave her a call. I found out from a neighbour that she'd been taken into hospital. I went that afternoon, as a dutiful cure it does, taking my little box with the sacrament with me. And as I arrived, there was desperation in her voice. And she said to me, I'm glad you've come. Have you brought the sacrament? Have you brought communion?

[17:32] And I said, I have. I have. And tears welled up in her eyes. And she said, if I miss my sacrament, I won't go to heaven. And I heard the sobbing, not of an 83-year-old lady, I heard the sobbing of a child.

[17:53] One who had lived her life with this notion that had been drummed into her for years and years by tradition and maybe even a lack of grace, that she believed the only way she could have a relationship with Jesus was to go through a ritual once a week at an eight o'clock morning to appease a God who lived on the altar and not in a personal relationship with her. And she believed that somehow that God would reject her if she didn't go through this ritual every week. That she had missed somewhere along the lines this God of love and grace of everything that she had learned and everything that she'd been saying for so long. She knew the words, but she didn't know actually what they meant for her personally, for her personal life and for her salvation.

[18:54] We spent that afternoon and many subsequent afternoons, it was like peeling layers of an onion with many tears, going away through the years of religious ritualistic tradition that had prevented her from meeting with Jesus as her friend, her gentle shepherd, as her saviour, and the one who gave his life for her in love and mercy. And in fact, she said, I've been saying this liturgy for years, Clive, but I still don't have a clue what the Lamb of God meant, but I was too afraid to ask.

[19:34] I watched her at 83 years of age grow deeply spiritually in love with Jesus, week by week by week. I saw her for the first time she came forward for prayer ministry.

[19:46] I saw her for the time that she came and renewed her life and gave her life to Christ. I saw her when she became so in tune with prayer in her daily walk with God, that she became one of the prayer ministry team praying with and for others.

[20:01] It wasn't just in Jesus' day that people didn't connect with the one that had come to save them, that had stepped out and found a deeper, deeper relationship with Jesus beyond that which she knew.

[20:13] And the prayer that Jesus gave us in response to that, into what he had seen and what he had observed in this reading this morning is saying, I believe, to each and every one of us, encouraging us and empowering us and challenging us to go deeper into relationship with him.

[20:33] Don't let anything get in the way. If it helps, it helps. If it doesn't, it doesn't. Get into a deeper relationship with Jesus. To give some space in the prayer that he gave for us for him to speak.

[20:49] To listen, to hear, to respond. To say, you're hallowed be your name. To put him in the right place in every moment of every day.

[21:00] Hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. To be bold in prayer. To be expectant of seeing what Jesus is doing in our every day. To see him at work.

[21:11] To seek his kingdom, not just in gathered prayer on a Sunday, but to seek his kingdom in our every day. To seek his will.

[21:22] Your will be done, Lord. Not Clive's will. Your will be done. A new openness, a new honesty with God. And you know the prayer. We know the prayer.

[21:33] It's a gift. It's a gift for us to give. But more importantly, it's a gift for us to share with other people. And if people are struggling, and even if you don't know what to pray at the time, say, can I pray the Lord's Prayer with you?

[21:46] We know it. And others will join in. No wonder six or seven years ago, when the Church of England sought to encourage a relationship to pray this prayer, the Lord's Prayer, that several cinemas refused to screen it.

[22:02] They refused to screen the Lord's Prayer. Perhaps they realize more than we do, the power it has to influence and change people's lives for good.

[22:15] Lives when we pray the way that Jesus did, and Jesus does. Pete Gregg says in his book, Dirty Glory, of course there are times to be intentional in prayer, to petition the Father for provision, to quiet, for help, to ask for advice.

[22:36] But if we only ever make demands of God, we will gradually reduce our relationship with him to a self-interested wish list instead of that relationship that we're called to have with him.

[22:50] I pray this morning that each and every one of us will go out and share the good news and would share the good news for ourselves as we go deeper and deeper and deeper in relationship as his disciples.

[23:06] Amen. Amen. Thank you.