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Most of us have heard hundreds of sermons, maybe thousands, over the years. I imagine most of you can think of a handful that have stayed with you. I hope you can think of at least one! There is a sermon that I heard as a college student that has stayed with me because it profoundly changed the way I understand prayer.
My college chaplain, Michael, preached this sermon and at the time, he seemed so old and wise. He was in his mid-40s, the same age I am now. Michael told us about a problem he was having with his back and the pain it was causing. He told us that he prayed for a miracle, for God to take away his back pain. But that wasn’t the focus of his prayers. It was a little perfunctory like an insurance policy. Just in case this works, why not.
The focus of his prayers was asking God to help him find a way to live with his pain. He asked God to transform his relationship with the pain in a way that allowed him to co-exist with it. And that simple shift in thinking, changed my life.
Sometimes, when we feel as if God isn’t hearing our prayers or our prayers aren’t being answered, we need to shift how we are praying.
Instead of praying for a parking space at U Village close to the store you need to visit, perhaps you say a prayer of thanksgiving that you have the health and ability to walk from the far parking garage all the way down to the Pottery Barn.
A time when I shifted how I was praying was when a family member was sick. When my mother-in-law, Kathy, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few years ago, I remembered Michael’s sermon. Of course, I prayed for her cancer to go into remission. But I also prayed for our family to be strengthened for the days ahead.
And, two summers ago, when she was dying of pancreatic cancer, I prayed for Kathy to find comfort in her faith and relief from any pain. I prayed for my family to be able to soak up every minute spent with her, creating memories for the rest of our lives.
These little shifts can make all the difference. How do we pray? Why do we pray? Does prayer even make a difference? These are all valid and important questions that I want to explore today.
In today’s reading from the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus and the disciples are on a journey. Along the way, the disciples ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. They are moving from town to town, healing people, preaching and teaching. But the other thing that Jesus does a lot is stop and pray.
In the gospel of Luke alone, prayer and praying are mentioned more than twenty times. Jesus leads by example. Jesus teaches the disciples the Lord’s Prayer. He teaches them how to ask for what they need. He teaches them to pray for God’s Kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven.
And then, Jesus teaches the disciples through short parable vignettes. In the first, a man knocks on a door late at night asking for bread. And in the other, a parent gives good gifts to their child. These stories shift Jesus’ focus from how-to-pray to the One who hears our prayer.
In the old days, people prayed all the time. They prayed with their bodies as well as their souls. They prayed by lifting their hands, bowing to the ground, standing, and kneeling.
The Old Testament tells us people often prayed three times a day. They offered sacrifices at the Temple. They prayed out of grief or frustration, offered praise and thanksgiving and asked God for help.
In the New Testament, prayer changes slightly. Jesus prays regularly, sometimes alone and sometimes in a crowd. He prays before major events and often on the top of mountains. When he prays, Jesus usually begins his prayer with the word, “Abba,” the Aramaic word for father indicating intimacy with the one to whom he is praying.
How do you pray? Do you pray only when gathered in community? Do you pray before meals or upon waking? Do you pray with your family or in solitude? Do you pray while walking the dog or strolling along the beach? There are no right or wrong answers to our practice of prayer, only required intentionality. However you pray, do it consistently and with focus.
Many of us pray corporately like we are right now. Praying with our bodies and voices, in words spoken and sung. And some of us pray in the interconnectedness of God’s creation, in the daily flow of our lives. This kind of prayer takes time to notice.
When you are outside, prayerfully notice the sunset, or the fragrance of honeysuckle in bloom, or the slug creeping along the garden path.
When you are traveling or on your way to work, prayerfully notice the people you meet, each and every person made in the image and likeness of God, from the unhoused person sleeping on the bus, to the flight attendant serving you a beverage, to the family member seated beside you.
When you pray by noticing—it shifts the world. When you go about your day in a mindset of prayerful noticing, you aren’t looking for what the world can do for you. Instead, it forces you to be in the world as the humans that we are. This shift in posture, in the way you approach the world, takes you to a place of love, empathy, and compassion.
And still, we may be tempted to pray for magical outcomes. “Lead us not into temptation”… Jesus says. What was he referring to with this petition?
In the old days, people prayed to vanquish their enemies. In Psalm 3, the psalmist prays, “Rise up, O Lord; set me free, O my God; Surely, you will strike all my enemies across the face, You will break the teeth of the wicked.” Yikes!
This magical thinking kind of prayer can lead us down the same path if we’re not careful. “Dear God, if this one thing changes, then everything will fall into place…” Instead, Jesus teaches us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
The caution is to avoid magical thinking kinds of prayers, the hocus pocus prayers, and instead, focus on authentic and honest prayers that draw us deeper into relationship with God and with one another.
Do you know where the term hocus pocus comes from? “Hocus pocus” comes from many, many years ago when churches were more like a marketplace or a farmer’s market. Out here, it was noisy with animals and children wandering around, while up at the altar, the priest was presiding over the eucharist. There would have been a screen between the nave (where you are) and the sanctuary (where the altar is). And someone would ring the sanctus bells at the really important parts of the Eucharistic prayer so the people would know when to stop and pay attention.
At this time, the priest would say all of the prayers in Latin. So, when they came to the epiclesis, that is, the point in which we believe the ordinary bread and wine are changed into bread and wine with the presence of Christ, the priest would quote Jesus saying, “Hoc est corpus meum.” This is my body. And the people milling about in the marketplace nave, thought the priest was saying “hocus pocus!” Hocus pocus, now the bread and wine are Jesus. That’s a fun story, but what on earth does it have to do with prayer? Right.
I think we often fall into this trap of magical thinking when we pray. We desire a particular outcome and pray for that to be true. Hocus pocus! Let the Kraken win a game! But this kind of magical thinking prayer is all about control or coming up with the right formula in order that God might “grant” our prayers like a genie in a bottle making a wish come true. That’s to miss the point.
Prayer is about trust and relationship, not results. That is what Jesus is teaching the disciples as he gives them The Prayer, known to us today as “The Lord’s Prayer.”
We don’t pray because we know the outcome. We pray because we trust the one who hears us. And so, prayer is all about relationship.
However you pray, don’t beat yourself up about those prayers. Reflect upon when you pray, how you pray, and why you pray. What do your prayers tell you about yourself? What do they tell you about God, in this moment?
How will you pray this week? Will you try praying with your feet as you walk, with your eyes as you notice, or with your heart as you rest in God’s presence? Maybe you’ll pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly, noticing each word. Or maybe you’ll try a new kind of prayer—one that doesn’t ask for magic but invites transformation. However you pray, remember this: God is already listening, already loving, already with you. Prayer isn’t about getting it “right”—it’s about showing up. So show up, again and again, and let that quiet relationship shape you from the inside out.