5 Lent, 9 April 2000
Prayer is more than praying our way out of
trouble; it is praying ourselves into the will
of God.
How often do you pray? About what do you pray? Has your prayer life changed much in the last week? Since Ash Wednesday? In the last year? In the last 10 years?
It is said that there are two kinds of Christians-- those who "pray their way in," and those who "pray their way out." If we are honest, it is safe to say that the majority of us take our prayer lives most seriously when we are trying to "pray our way out."
--When you're rushing to get to an appointment that you're already late for and you don't notice the cop's car until you've whizzed right past it at 20 miles over the speed limit -- Time to "pray your way out."
--When you walk into math class and suddenly realize the chapter test is today, not tomorrow -- Time to "pray your way out."
--When you get a letter with a return address from the Internal Revenue Service -- Time to "pray your way out."
--When your company announces it will begin downsizing/"right-sizing"/"upsizing" or whatever else they call it -- Time to "pray your way out."
--When your spouse confronts you with the possibility of divorce -- Time to "pray your way out."
Life is filled with moments and situations that may cause pain or fear, anger or hardship. Sometimes these "life storms" come up quickly and we are unprepared. Sometimes they brew for a long time, adding to our worry, and then they break upon us. In any event we are brought up short. We feel unequal to the challenge. Even those who might not consider themselves very pious or prayerful or even very religious, when faced with these kinds of clutch circumstances, hurl up "panic prayers." We pray to God for help in getting us out of the mess, the storm that threatens to undo us.
Have you ever wondered whether God doesn't spend the better part of the day hearing attempts by people like us to "pray their way out" of situations. I hope that it never gets old for Him to listen to us. Praying "one's-way-out" prayers are not very creative or new. When we're trying to pray our way out, there simply isn't time to be eloquent. I know that Jesus listens to my panic prayers because Jesus himself got to a point in his life where he wanted to speak one himself. It would have been a classic. As he looked down the road toward Jerusalem, he wanted to cry out, "Father, save me from this hour." He wanted to shout that prayer aloud, his spirit was troubled, agitated, and maybe even afraid. He wanted to send up this panic prayer, but did not—and we will come back to that in a moment.
Sometimes we try to dress up our panic prayers by gilding them with flowery promises. We promise we'll never speed, slack, cheat, lie or steal ever again if God will just get us out of this one. As if God hasn't heard that before. Yes, I confess I have prayed this way. Look what has happened, he has called me to the priesthood. Beware what you promise, it may be just what God needs.
But there is another kind of attitude Christians can take in prayer. Instead of a frenzied search for an escape hatch, instead of praying our way out, we can "pray our way in" to God's plan for our lives.
--Confronted with the need to make a mid-life career change, or the change to a new city and a new job in the company -- trust God's plan, God's covenant with you, and PRAY YOUR WAY IN to a new possibility.
--Finding that the demands on your time are causing your blood pressure to rise, your head to pound and your nerves to snap -- trust God's plan and PRAY YOUR WAY IN to a slower pace, PRAY YOUR WAY IN to God's Peace that passes all understanding.
--Discarding another commodity of fun (a new car, a new bike, a new boat, a new trip around the world) for a community of faith that can nurture your soul while prodding you forward -- trust God's plan and PRAY YOUR WAY IN to a new address. PRAY YOUR WAY IN to the good work God has begun here at St. Margaret's.
--Worried about the strain on your budget and hating the pinched feeling you always have at the end of the month -- trust God's plan and PRAY YOUR WAY IN to a new examination of what is an authentic style of life and what is just "life-style."
--Confronted with a body that is aging and slowing down and maybe even breaking down, confronted with a diagnosis that robs life of all joy and darkens even the bright desert sun, PRAY YOUR WAY IN to God's arms and God's comforting embrace. PRAY YOUR WAY IN to the knowledge that nothing can separate from that love, nothing.
--Grieving over the loss of a spouse, the moving away of a child, the frail health of a parent -- trust God's plan and PRAY YOUR WAY IN to a renewed love for family and friends.
Many of life's storms are beyond our ability to predict or control, just like the storms reported on the evening news. Much of life is beyond our control. We don't run the show, we can't run the show. We might as well relax and enjoy the picture. While we can't control much, we can choose to trust God's plan and God's covenant to be with us always even to the end of time and PRAY OUR WAY IN to a yielded life.
A few years ago Henry Blackaby challenged the Christian community to rethink its approach to God. In his book on being a disciple, Experiencing God, Blackaby pointed out that our approach to God most resembles a Christmas wish list -- a litany of blessing "gimmes" that itemizes what we want: "Lord, bless our church, bless my family, bless my ministry, bless my hopes, bless my dreams, bless my desires."
Blackaby proposed following Jesus' lead and learning to pray not for what we want but for what God wants for us. Instead of asking God to bless our lives, authentic discipleship is asking God to "Let my church, my family, my ministry, my hopes, my dreams, my desires be a part of what you are blessing."
In today's gospel text, Jesus shifts the direction of our prayers even further than Blackaby. "Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—`Father, save me from this hour'? No, . . . . Father, glorify your name." Instead of asking God to "save me from this problem," or "deliver me from this mess/stress/distress," Jesus teaches us to ask God to "glorify your name in this action."
When God's voice rang down out of heaven and promised that Jesus was being glorified, some heard angel voices, others heard thunder. When your life takes unexpected turns, crashes into a barren spot, or overwhelms you with responsibility, do you hear the din of thunder roaring in your ears? Or do you hear the voice of an angel offering you a chance to glorify God?
It's our choice. Either we can try to pray our way out of a thunderstorm. Or we can pray our way in to the glory of God. AMEN.
The Rev. Daniel Rondeau
drondeau@stmargarets.org
09 April 2000
Special Note of thanks and acknowledgement: The idea, and a large part of this homily was authored by another writer. In preparing my homily for the parish family at St. Margaret's I read the ideas, homilies, illustrations of other. In this case, after reading the homily myself, and feeling how powerfully it affected me, and knowing the many situations in our parish calling forth prayers of family and loved ones, I added some of my own words and reflections and asked the Holy Spirit to deliver this message through me. Again, the author was not cited, but to him or her, thank you for giving me and many a new insight into the prayers of Jesus, and our own prayers.
Reference: "Pray your way in" Homiletics, March 16, 1997 (found at: http://www.homileticsonline.com/Installments/mar1697.htm)