Ask. Search. Knock.

Luke 11:1-13

July 24, 2022

            The tornadoes that hit Oklahoma in 2013 were fearsome and formidable, and they were an event that marked our time living in that state. The second tornado, an E5, laid waste to Moore, Oklahoma, wiping out a large section of it, including an elementary school where both students and teachers lost their lives. It was devastating, and even though Oklahomans are relatively resigned to bad storms – you can’t live in tornado alley and not be – this tragic loss of life shook people to their core.

Shortly after the tornadoes hit, I was at an ecumenical Bible study where a man spoke up and said that he heard that on the day of the storm at one of the elementary schools in Moore, when everyone was taking shelter, all the children began to sing “Jesus Loves Me.”  As the storm raged more fiercely, they sang more loudly. And wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, their school remained unharmed. Every child and teacher returned home to their loved ones that night. His implication was that at the other elementary school, the one where lives were lost, clearly this did not happen and just look at the result.

            He said this as though it was absolute proof that if you are just persistent enough, God will answer your prayers. If you just sing “Jesus Loves Me” loudly enough, God will change the course of the storm so that it doesn’t touch down on one elementary school, but instead hits the one where supposedly they weren’t singing. His assessment meant the tornados were no longer a terrible occurrence of nature, but a new sort of Passover. The children and teachers who prayed persistently, who sang and prayed loudly were saved, while those who didn’t weren’t. I was so shocked and appalled at this that I couldn’t find the words to respond. And it brought me back once again to what happens when we pray and what doesn’t happen when we pray.

            Preacher and writer, Debi Thomas, wrote that when she comes to this particular text in Luke’s gospel, she approaches it warily and with great trepidation. She wrote that it was a text full of landmines. And over the centuries, interpretation of this passage has resulted in what she called an understanding of God as a cosmic gumball machine. Your prayers are the coins, just put them in and see what color of gumball you get. I appreciate this analogy, but I think of this kind of interpretation more like a grocery list.

            In these days of Covid I have come to greatly appreciate curbside pickup at Kroger. I go to the app on my phone, put the items that we need in my cart, choose a time for pickup, check-out, and when its time, I go to the store and have my groceries brought to my car. There can be hiccups, sure, but for the most part it has been a great way to shop, especially when life is crazy and I don’t have an hour to walk up and down the aisles. So, when I think of the kind of understanding of prayer that Debi Thomas wrote of or what the man in the Bible study alluded to, this is what comes to mind. I give God my grocery list of needs and wants, and God fills my cart. And if there’s something that I can’t get, then God either makes a substitution or refunds my money for that item. But if my analogy holds any truth, and I don’t think it does, then there have been an awful lot of items that I’ve wanted that have been out of stock. So, what does this passage in Luke hold for us when it comes to prayer?

            At the beginning of our text, Jesus is noted as praying in a certain place. I’m not sure the geography of this place matters so much as the fact that Jesus set aside both a time and place to pray. When he was finished one of the disciples asked him to teach them to pray as John taught his disciples. As I understand it, at that time teachers and disciples were also known by their prayers. John’s disciples must have had a unique prayer that only he could have taught them. That prayer would have marked them as his disciples. So, Jesus’ disciples want that same distinction. If Jesus teaches them a specific prayer, then there would be no mistaking them for anyone else but his disciples. 

Jesus responded by teaching them these words,

“Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread.  And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

Although it’s not exactly the same, this provides the basis for Lord’s Prayer which we will pray together in just a few minutes. A version of this prayer is also found in the gospel of Matthew. But Matthew’s context is very different from Luke’s. In Matthew’s gospel the prayer is taught as part of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is warning his disciples not to make a show of their religious piety.

“Don’t be like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners so everyone can see them and see how pious and righteous they are. Instead pray in secret. And when you pray, don’t worry about heaping up empty phrases, just pray these words.” 

            Luke’s context is different. As I said, Jesus has been praying “in a certain place.” His disciples want to be taught as John taught. They want something distinctive. Jesus, teach us to pray.

Luke’s gospel emphasizes the point that Jesus spent a great deal of time in prayer. It was prayer that kept him close to God. It was prayer that kept him on the path he knew he had to be on. Jesus prayed. Even as the disciples may have wanted to be known as his disciples by the prayer he taught them, they may have also wanted to experience the closeness and intimacy and deep connection that Jesus found in his prayers. I suspect that the disciples could see how prayer affected Jesus, how it kept him grounded and faithful and staying true to his call and his ministry. I would not be surprised if the disciples also wanted to experience that. They must have wanted to be in that close of a relationship with God as Jesus was. Jesus, teach us to pray. 

One other interesting point to note is that this story of Jesus teaching the disciples to pray follows on the heels of two stories about discipleship, the Good Samaritan and Martha and Mary.  To grasp the fullness of discipleship, you must both do and be – see a neighbor in need and help that neighbor in that moment and recognize that there is a moment to sit at Jesus’ feet and learn and be in that moment as well. It seems to me that the foundation of both the doing and the being is in prayer. You’ve taught us about doing, Jesus, and you’ve taught us about being. Now, teach us to pray.

Jesus did just that. He taught them the specific words we find our passage. But after the prayer, he also told them this small story about being persistent in prayer. If you have need of bread, go to your friend’s house, even if its late at night and keep knocking until you finally annoy the friend enough that he answers the door and gives you what you need. Here’s a landmine that Thomas spoke of. Does being persistent in prayer mean that we have to annoy God? Does that mean that the times when I have prayed and prayed and prayed – not for some materialistic desire but for someone I love to be healed or for people to be helped – and what I’ve prayed for has not happened, then I just haven’t knocked long enough or hard enough? That’s often the response we hear about prayers that seemingly go unanswered. You haven’t been persistent enough. Or another answer we hear is that God just said, “No.” Neither of these responses or explanations help. They don’t help me anyway.

When a parent prays for a child to be healed from a terrible disease or even just to come home safely from school, and that doesn’t happen, was that God saying, “No?” Because why would God say no to the safety of a child? To the health of a child? To the health and safety of communities? Or for an end to a terrible and unjust war?

Quite frankly, these responses – either you don’t pray persistently enough, or God just said, “No” – don’t help. So, what is Jesus telling the disciples? Maybe, it’s not about how a prayer is answered or not, maybe that has nothing to do with any of it. Maybe it’s just about praying, about being in that relationship with God. Does prayer effect change? Yes! But it most often effects change in the one who is praying. Maybe Jesus found his courage to continue because he prayed. Maybe Jesus found his strength to stand up to the powers and principalities because he made sure to spend time in prayer. Maybe that relationship with God that he had in prayer shone on his face, in his eyes, in his words, in his actions.

And let’s look at what Jesus actually promises will happen with persistent prayer. There is only one promise made, and that comes at the end of this passage.

“How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus does not promise that persistent prayer will bring about cures for diseases or interventions in the eye of a storm. Jesus promises that  those who pray persistently will receive the Holy Spirit.

Those who pray persistently, those who ask, search, and knock will receive the Holy Spirit. And what happens when the Holy Spirit comes? What happens when the Holy Spirit descends and moves and blows where it will? People who were afraid gather their courage. People who thought they were weak discover their strength. People who thought they could not make a difference, see the steps they need to take to help a world in need.

And our world is in need. And our world needs prayer, persistent, relentless prayer. And what does that prayer do? How does that prayer help? It helps the ones who are praying. It effects change in the ones who refuse to stop asking, stop searching, and stop knocking. We pray, not so that God will supernaturally intervene, a giant hand reaching down from the clouds. We pray so that our faith will deepen and grow. We pray so that we will find within ourselves the courage to help and challenge and change. We pray because prayer changes us. Jesus has taught us to pray, so let us pray and pray and pray.

Let all of God’s children say, “Alleluia.”

Amen.