Prayer and Hospitality

Jann Martin July 29, 2007

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Luke 11: 1-13

Gospel Lesson

¹ Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." ² So He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
³ Give us day by day our daily bread.
⁴ And forgive us our sins,
For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one."

⁵ And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; ⁶ for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him;' ⁷ and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you?' ⁸ I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs."

⁹ "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. ¹¹ If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"(1)

This is the Word of the Lord.
Praise to You, O Christ.

Jesus gave us the words to pray with the Lord's Prayer. It is a prayer that covers all aspects of our life. "Could You Not Tarry One Hour" by Dr. Larry Lea takes the Lord's Prayer and breaks it down into petitions. In this book we are taught to begin with acknowledging God as our heavenly Father through the death of Jesus on the cross. Then we continue honoring God by the use of the names He has been given. They are Jehovah-Tsidkenu (Jehovah our righteousness) and Jehovah-M'Kaddesh (Jehovah who sanctifies), which tells us of the forgiveness of our sin. The spirit we are given is honored in these names. Jehovah-Shalom means Jehovah is peace and Jehovah-Shammah means Jehovah is there. Then for soundness or health we have Jehovah-Rophe or Jehovah heals. For success we have Jehovah-Jireh, which means Jehovah's provision shall be seen. Then the last one is for security and it has two names Jehovah-Nissi, which means Jehovah my banner, and Jehovah-Rohi, which means Jehovah my shepherd.

The next petition in the prayer is "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done." Here we pause to pray for our self, our family, all who are part of our church, and all levels of our nation. For each part of this petition, pray at length for all who fall into each category, lifting them up to God in thanksgiving, blessing, and for their needs. This is where we can specifically pray for healing for family or friends that are ill or going through a tough time, or for wonderful things that are happening in their lives. We should also pray for our leaders, local and national, to govern our country with care and concern for the people and the land.

Then we ask God for our daily bread. This isn't just food, it's that we be in the will of God in all aspects of our life, prayer, church, work, and our offerings. When we pray this, we need to believe that God knows what is best for each of us and that He wants us to prosper. It's OK to be specific and to hold firm with your request, but realize that He knows what is best in the big picture.

In the next petition we ask for forgiveness as we forgive others. We first need to ask God to forgive us for the wrongs we have done, known and unknown. Then we need to forgive others remembering that we too have done wrong and want forgiveness for our transgressions just as they want to be forgiven. If we are not willing to forgive them, maybe we don't deserve to be forgiven by God.

Next we ask for help to stay away from temptation. There is an armor of God that we can put on. As we put each piece on mentally, we pray for Jesus to be with us. We are to gird or use a belt to put truth around us, and then the breastplate of righteousness for protection. On our feet we have preparation or the readiness of the gospel of peace. We hold up a shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, and hold the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, then pray for God's protection in all that we do.

In the last petition, as in the first petition, we praise God in saying "for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen." It is important that we remember to begin and end our prayer in praise and thanking Him for all He has done for us.

The disciples asked Jesus if He would help them and teach them how to pray. Jesus responded with The Lord's Prayer, one of the most complete prayers there is. As I showed you in the above breakdown of this prayer, all aspects of your life are covered in this prayer. When we open it with "Our Father" we are also saying Abba or Daddy. We are coming to God as His child and seeking His love and care.

We also say "our" not "my." This means we are praying as a community, not just as an individual. We pray for all we encounter in our lives, not just selfishly for our own wants and needs. Being a member of a church we are all part of the body of the church of Christ. In this church we are called to be His disciples and to care for His people. In the worship and study at the church, we are each taught and called to be a disciple of Christ. As a disciple of Christ we are all members of His family and can thus call each other "brothers and sisters" in the faith.

With Christ's death on the cross He took away all of our sins. There is no way we as humans can lead a perfect life; we need His gift of forgiveness in order to come to God in prayer. After His death He offers each of us the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit hears our attempt at prayer and takes our words and makes them pleasing to God's ear. Do not worry about how you pray. There is no magic formula, just take your concerns and joys to Him and you can rely on the Holy Spirit to make sure it comes out right. Even out of sheer desperation you can just pray HELP, and God will know what you need.

The story in the next part of this morning's lesson shows a man seeking bread from his friend. At that time travelers stayed with family and friends, there were not as many inns at that time as we have hotels and motels available for us today. Also, in the Middle Eastern culture hospitality is greatly valued. The man may have gotten up to provide for his neighbor, not because the neighbor was continuing to pester him, but more out of respect and the high value placed on hospitality. He also would not have wanted it said that he turned someone in need away. We can trust God that when we come to Him in prayer that He will not turn away from us, He will not listen to us just so He can be hospitable in others eyes. He truly loves us and wants to listen to each of our prayers.

The importance of hospitality is also shown in the story of the Shunammite woman. She was a wealthy Jewish woman and she opened her home to Elisha the prophet who succeeded Elijah. Elisha frequently come by this woman's home on his travels, so the woman asked her husband if they could make a room for Elisha so he would always have a place ready for him as he traveled. If a traveler did not have a room, he may have to stay outside and could have been beaten and robbed while they slept. Thus the hospitality of others was really appreciated. This hospitality would have included a bed, protection and food for the person as well as his animals.

Another example of hospitality is having water at the door for people to wash their feet. They wore sandals and the roads were dusty. When Jesus entered Simon's home there was not water to wash His feet. A sinful woman came into Simon's home and knelt at Jesus feet. She began to cry for joy for the forgiveness Jesus had given to her. Her tears washed His feet, she dried them with her hair, and then anointed them with some precious perfume she brought for Him.

Then in the story of Mary and Martha we see them both in roles of hospitality. Mary shows her hospitality by stopping her work and listening to Jesus as He speaks to all who are gathered in her home, thus placing her guest above preparations. While Martha looks at hospitality as making sure the house is ready and that a special meal is prepared, possibly making a fancier meal than normal due to having guests, especially Jesus, in their home. Both roles are necessary, but we need to find a balance between the two. We can make a more modest meal, not worry so much about how clean the house is, and remember it is our time and attention that those who are visiting are more concerned with.

Showing our hospitality is not always just at our homes. It is also in our actions to those we come in contact with on a day-to-day basis. I received this emailed story and it gave me some food for thought. It's as follows:

I SAW ME

"I'm sorry. Please forgive me! I don't mean to hold you up," he said as he struggled to get off the escalator.

I'll admit to it. There have been times when walking or driving behind an older person, I've gotten impatient and upset. I've huffed and zoomed around them because I was in a hurry to get somewhere. Perhaps I'm more aware of it now because I see myself there one day soon. Today I saw myself in this old man's shoes and it caused me to slow down, stop, and ask for his forgiveness.

He was about five or six people ahead of me. I was in a hurry and saw him as an obstacle. I've seen people get off the end of an escalator and stop dead in their tracks, gather their things and suddenly there's a pile up of angry people behind them. You can't stop an escalator full of people behind you. Like the Energizer bunny, they keep on going.

This man was well aware of the challenge. He tried desperately to step aside. Fumbling with his small packages, struggling to gain his footing, you could see how troubling this was for him. "I'm sorry. Please forgive me! I don't mean to hold you up," he said as he struggled to get off the escalator.

I suddenly saw this in a whole new light. It was like I was watching my future. I felt sorry for him. I felt sick to my stomach because this man was apologizing to everyone, when we should have been helping him and calming his fears.

One by one, people zipped around him. I heard a few angry comments whispered as one lady passed by him.

I saw me.

By the time I got to him he was just about steady on his feet.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know there was more," he said.

"No, sir. No more after me," I said. This really hit me hard. I realized right then how sad it was that the world was in such a hurry. That, of course, included me. But, no more with me. Count me out.

This wonderful man paid his dues. For whatever time he had spent on this earth, he most likely walked many rough roads and too many important miles. Now he shouldn't be apologizing for moving slower?

My heart ached as I looked into his eyes. I wished that I could see what he had seen all those years. His face weathered from life itself, was creased and wrinkled. The small soft pockets under his eyes and the gentle lines that curved up and around them told me he had many happy moments, too. Those were traces left behind from laughter and a smiling, happy man.

"My friend, can I help you with those things?" I asked.

Hesitant at first, he finally said, "Well, yes, thank you!"

I placed my hand under his left arm and walked with him a safe distance away from the rush of people.

"So what are you shopping for, sir?"

"Oh, just a little something for my neighbor. She's a young mother raising kids on her own. She's always so nice to me. I thought a box of candy for Mother's Day..." he said, stopping suddenly as he searched the inside pocket of his sport coat.

"Do you need something?" I asked.

"Oh, no. Here. I think I have it right here. I always carry them with me," he said. Then pulling out a hand full of papers he shuffled through them and handed me a business card that read:

"John A. Pomicter. Friend to all, enemy to no one! I said a prayer today and you were the answer. Thank you!"

"That's for you," he said. "Thanks for stopping to help an old man."

"My friend, you helped ME! I discovered that I was unhappy with the world and I was part of the problem. Now I'll be part of the solution!"

"Then this was meant to be," he said smiling. "You know God sends me gifts every day and always at least one special person. You were my gift for today! Let's go get some chocolates, my friend."

Remember to daily knock on God's door, both in praise and with petitions. Remember He has given you the ultimate gift of salvation, which there is no way we can earn, by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit to take our words and turn them into beautiful prayers for God's ears.

Amen.

1. The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

©Jann Martin 2007