There are times when God’s presence seems especially close and this morning was one of those occasions. Times when His greatness and mercy overwhelm us. Times when all we can do is bow down in His presence because we realise how small we are in comparison and yet we are so grateful that we can be in the presence of a holy God at all.
Dave preached from Luke 11:1-13, a sermon about prayer that really looked at the importance of spending time with God, about the value of relationship over set words. Even though this passage contains the Lord’s prayer, it’s not that we can ever view prayer as a set formula, a series of words to be repeated without feeling or understanding, a magic incantation. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray primarily by focussing on the need for relationship.
Our feelings and thoughts can often get in the way of our prayers, however. Dave highlighted some of the problems we face:
1) We think we are not good enough to talk to God. Well, obviously in our own strength, we are not good enough. But Jesus’s sacrifice makes it possible for us to talk to God. God is seeking after the return of His children. He wants us to talk to Him.
2) We think God is too busy with other things to have time for us. This view may well be based on a respect for God, but reflects, nonetheless, a limited view of God. God is far bigger than we imagine – He can cope with so much more than we can and is not overwhelmed by the number of His children praying! There is nothing too big or too small to talk to God about.
3) We may feel it is wrong to ask God for things. We may feel that we are being selfish if we pray for ourselves and our own needs, but Jesus prayed for Himself and in this passage teaches us to pray for our own daily needs, for forgiveness, for help in overcoming temptation, for all that we need to live.
4) We often think that persistence in prayer reflects a lack of faith: “once should be enough.” God, however, encourages persistence in prayer and asks us to pray on an ongoing basis. Think of Jacob, wrestling with God all night until He had received His blessing. Prayer is not for the faint-hearted!
5) We don’t pray at times because we don’t know how to pray: “I might ask for the wrong thing.” We often feel confused and frightened by situations, unsure how to pray, uncertain what God wants us to pray for. In those times, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray (Romans 8) – sometimes, we don’t even need words. It’s not the words we use in themselves that matter; it’s the relationship we have with God and our heart attitudes that count.
Ultimately, what matters most is not the formal words we use in prayer, not the length of prayer we pray, not the outward signs at all, but the ongoing relationship we have with God, the desire we have to be in His presence and the time we spend with Him, seeking His face, enjoying His company, desiring to be with Him, even as Mary was commended in Luke 10 for spending quality time at Jesus’s feet. May we learn to do the same with God:
“To be in Your presence
To sit at Your feet,
Where Your love surrounds me,
And makes me complete.
This is my desire, O Lord,
This is my desire.
This is my desire, O Lord,
This is my desire.
To rest in Your presence,
Not rushing away;
To cherish each moment,
Here I would stay.”
(Noel Richards, (c) 1991 ThankYou Music)