Luke 11:1-13
I invite you
to keep your FWS open to Lord, Listen to
your children prayingif you don’t know it well……we’re going to do something
a little more participatory this morning
Some of you
know I’ve been on vacation….we spent a week in Istanbul, Turkey, and our hotel
was right next to the Blue Mosque, so prayer has been very much a part of my
recent experience as we’d hear the call to prayer 5 times a day, starting about
4am!
Muslims are
expected to pray individually 5x day, and once a week communally…….Benedictines
and other religious also pray 5 times a day, and at least three of those are in
community. The Rule of Benedict is very
specific about it, not just the timing and content, but the attitude of prayer.
Some of us
who are trying to be more intentional about our spiritual lives manage about
twice a day and a couple of times a week with others…..some of us, well, maybe
the Lord’s Prayer on a Sunday is about it, except for the occasional desperate plea
for help….and many of us are somewhere
in between.
This week,
as I sat for my own prayer time with the call to prayer resounding outside, I
was challenged by reading this from Joan Chittister, in her commentary of the
Rule:
She quotes
the Jewish teacher, Maimon ben Joseph,
Those who pray without knowing what they pray, do not pray… Then she goes on How is it that we too pray without thinking, carelessly, poorly, or
without thought?
So, today’s
gospel is most timely!
It begins
with a simple fact. Jesus prayed. And his disciples knew it was a real deep
source for him, and they wanted to know more about it. So he gave them a simple
formula that we’ve come to recite and call the Lord’s Prayer. He used the image of a door for prayer, an
entry into awareness of God’s presence, and today we’re going to experience
being on that same threshold, standing at the open door to God’s heart, using
the Jesus prayer to reflect silently – using the prayer the way the SH youth
did this past spring: it will be on the screen for you to consider/pray, and
after each time of silent reflection, we’ll quietly sing Lord,Listen to your children praying
Quiet your
mind, settle your body, deepen your breathing…..
Each slide for reflection in silence – song
Till the last slide and song.
Amen.
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