What do we pray? How do we pray? If we are in the midst of some suffering or affliction what do we say to God? If we are filled with great joy and covered with some sense of blessing and peace, how do we give thanks and praise?
Can we say anything? Should we say anything and everything that comes to mind?
If you were to read through the Holy Scriptures you would come across people talking with the Lord. It is a natural and common thing to do. Sometimes they simply praise the Lord for what he has done. Sometimes they complain and grumble, the Lord becomes angry and they are consumed by fire—yikes! Sometimes they make their complaints to the Lord and he hears their prayers and delivers them. What is the deal? What is the difference?
It seems to be a matter of the heart and the words that flow from it. Remember Jesus’ words in Mark chapter seven? It is what comes from the heart that defiles you, not what you put in your mouth. Out of the heart come all kinds of terrible things, anger, deceit, slander, gossip, coveting, etc…. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor in the 30’s and 40’s, used this principle to teach us that when we pray, trusting the heart is a dangerous thing. He writes, “But it is a dangerous error, surely very widespread among Christians, to think that their heart can pray by itself. For then we confuse wishes, hopes, sighs, laments, rejoicings—all of which the heart can do by itself—with prayer.” He means to say that you and your heart want all kinds of things and sometimes those desires or wishes or even rejoicings are contrary to God. Prayer, Bonhoeffer writes, is to “find the way to God and to speak with him, whether the heart is full or empty. No man can do that by himself. For that he needs Jesus Christ.”
This is the difference between the Israelites grumbling against the Lord and Moses, and Moses’ own laments to the Lord (Num. 11). Moses knows the Lord is his deliverer and his strength. Moses knows all things come from God. The Israelites are in rejection of their deliverer and his leading.
We know our hearts, if we take the time to examine them honestly. We know our hearts are often confused, troubled, and even sometimes impure. How would this affect your prayer if you were to pray “from the heart?” But there is one who has come whose heart was not defiled or impure. One who remained true and devoted to the Father in heaven. One who not only speaks true words but is the Truth and the Word made flesh. He has promised to be our mediator, our advocate, with the Father. He has promised to never leave us, to be with us when we gather in his name, and around his table. When we pray in his name, even with his words, Bonhoeffer concludes, “For here we know that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, teaches us to pray. The words which come from God become, then, the steps on which we find our way to God.” God, the Word, carrying us to God in times of suffering and cheerfulness.
What words are these? The Psalms. We can learn to pray, by praying the Psalms.
Let me use a few verses from Psalm 104, our Psalm for Sunday, September 29. This psalm can be thought of as a song about the providence of God. It describes all he has done in creating the cosmos and makes the extraordinary observation that when God opens his hand toward us we are filled with good things, when he turns from us we are dismayed. It can be prayed during good times, or bad. It is a perfect psalm to pray these days, when our economy, security, and government all seem to be in turmoil. According to this psalm, God is still God, clothed in splendor and providing for all. Try it. Open your Bible to Psalm 104 and read it all the way through. Then go to the verses that caught your attention and read those, out loud. Now speak them as your own prayers. Can you add in other words of God from other parts of the Bible? Let me try it with you.
Using verses 27-30, 33
O Lord, Jesus Christ, all look to you, as Savior and King, to provide for us in due season. When you give it to us, we gather it up; when you open your hand, we are filled with good things. We know this to be true even in these difficult times. When you hide your face, we are dismayed; when you take away our breath, we die and return to the dust. When you send forth your Spirit, we are created new, and you renew the face of the ground. Help us to always be thankful for your graciousness toward us, O Lord, as long as we live. We will sing praise to you our God while we have being, for you provide for us all things, forgiveness, life, salvation, house, family, food, work—all things. Into your hands we commend ourselves, both body and soul, now and forever. Amen.
Grace and Peace to you in Christ---Risen and Returning,
Pastor
Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. Augsburg Fortress. 1974. Pages 9-12.
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