Are you there God? It's me, Licia.

Weeks ago I preached a sermon on prayer. It is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart, probably because I have always felt that my prayer-life is lacking. To this day, when I look at the great mystics, at the monastics who devote their life to prayer, I can't help but feel that I will never be "enough".

This is the script I put together for my sermon, yet since I preached three times over the weekend, to three very different congregations, I ended up ignoring my notes and talking more about my experience.

I even shared how now I have set three alarms on my phone so that when they go off (mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon) I can drop everything and talk to God and, more importantly LISTEN. 

Very hard to write it a sermon a posteriori...this is what I "almost said"...more or less.

Pentecost X year C – Luke 11:1-13

Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe,

who sanctified us with your commandments,

and appointed us to be a light to the nations

and who gave to us Jesus our Messiah, the Light of the world.

Amen

Prayer is the most important activity in our lives.

It is the main way in which we develop a relationship with our Divine Parent;

it is a conversation with the whole Trinity,

a loving exchange, a communion.

According to a recent poll, only 50% of people in the US pray every day.

53% among mainline Protestant denominations.

I think this sad. And scary.

How can we keep our relationship with God alive, if we don’t talk to God?

Are we really that busy? Doing what? I mean really, what is more important?

Or is it that, like the disciples, don’t “know” how to pray?

That we are afraid we don't have the "right" words?

Well, Jesus seems to be pretty clear on how to pray...

We are to pray to our Father seeking intimacy, closeness with the Creator of all things

who is both transcendent (above all things)

and immanent (within all things...including us, who are made in the image of God).

We are to pray that God’s name, God’s role in the life of Creation be hallowed, sanctified, blessed

in our own lives, in our communities, in the world around us;

that God’s centrality in human life be understood, honored, and shared.

We are to pray that the Kingdom of God may come,

that we may be a part of God’s dream, God’s project for Creation.

That we may find ways to contribute to that project,

to cooperate with God so that the dream may soon become  a reality.

We are to pray for God’s Dream (with a big D) not our dreams,

because we tend to be limited in our dreaming, and in our asking, and self-centered.

So we’d better pray that God’s will be done, as opposed to our own,

because God wants for us more and better than what we can ever ask or imagine.

Also, we are to pray that our basic needs may be met. Yes, that’s perfectly acceptable.

God is interested and will listen to our little issues and to the large ones.

Because God cares.

God cares for the number of hair on our heads.

God loves us immensely and enjoys hearing our voice in prayer.

Even when the prayer is a simple “Thank you!” or “Help me!”

God is concerned about everything you and me are concerned about.

Just as I want want my child to to talk to me about anything she is worried about

(a broken nail...a broken heart),

so God wants to hear about the things we are worried about.

Then we are to pray for God’s forgiveness,

because although we are the recipients of God’s grace through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ,

as we go about the business of life in community through the world,

we continue to miss the mark, to fall into meanness and selfishness,

and we need to be aware of that and be ready (with God’s help) to do better.

And we who are constantly forgiven, we who know what grace is,

need to learn to forgive others and bring God’s message of redemption to all those who live in despair.

Finally, we are to pray for God’s strength and support in times of trial - which in my case is everyday,

because I am fully aware of my imperfection, my many limitations,

and it is only thanks to God’s support

that I can stand here in front of you all today.

I know, sometimes when we pray it is hard to believe that God is listening.

It is hard to feel a connection with God.

Frequently, it is because we do a lot of talking and very little listening.

More often than not, it is because we pray to God as if God were 

the great “fixer” of all things.

Like a child with a broken toy we pray that God may fix what is broken

or change things to our advantage.

We pray that we may get the stuff that we want but really don’t need.

Or, out of our impatience, we pray for RIGHT NOW,

as if we had the right to expect God to ask “how high” when we say “jump”.

And yet.

God-in-Christ tells us that

no matter how we pray, what really counts is that we pray.

That we keep the conversation going, even when it seems to be one sided.

It never is.

What really matters is that we turn to God consistently, even impatiently 

and empty our hearts.

Because every time we turn ourselves toward our Creator asking for ourselves or on behalf of others,

in joyful thanksgiving, or in a cry of pain,

every time we appeal to God,

it’s as if we lit a candle in the darkness for ourselves and for all humanity.

There are no good or bad prayers; there are no wrong or right words.

Prayer is letting go.

Prayer is saying that we know that God is.

And that God loves.