Scripture Reading Matthew 6:5-15 (NRSVUE)
Concerning Prayer
“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
“Pray, then, in this way:
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not bring us to the time of trial,
but rescue us from the evil one.
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
Meditation
Prayerful/ Playful Practice 1: The Breath Prayer.
Let’s start with a breath prayer. This is a prayer you will pray inwardly, because it follows your breath.
On the inhale: Spirit of God…
On the exhale: Guide my prayer…
Let’s do that several times, eyes closed or lowered. Relax. This is for all of us.
OK, you can open your eyes. This is our first prayerful practice: the breath prayer. I gave that one to you, but you can create your own, a new one every day or every hour. Here’s how you do it:
Think of the name of God that you want to use. I used Spirit of God. You might like to use Jesus, or Shepherd, or My Rock, or any of the many titles for God we can find in scripture.
Then, ask yourself a question. Address yourself by name: Pat, or Larry, or Cindy, what is your deepest desire? And then listen for your answer to come bubbling up.
Then you bring these two together. As an example, you may want to use Shepherd, and you’re praying for guidance making a decision.
On the inhale: Gentle Shepherd,
On the exhale: Lead me on the right path.
Prayerful/ Playful Practice 2: The Lord’s Prayer
Tonight we have read a short passage from Matthew about prayer. Jesus is talking about several common spiritual practices, including prayer. A common theme runs through all of them: do it simply, without worrying about what other people think. And then Jesus offers an example, which we know as the Lord’s prayer. Jesus says, “Pray in this way.” He doesn’t say “Pray these words.” My suggestion is that you take what Jesus says, and say it in your own words.
It begins with Jesus’ favorite name for God: Abba, which means, Father. You too, as mentioned above, can choose a name for God in prayer. I know Father can be very comforting and familiar. But you may like to find a few names for God that you haven’t used in prayer, including feminine names such as Mother or Sophia (a Greek name meaning Wisdom). Find the name that speaks to your heart.
Next Jesus says words of praise to God: holy is your name.
Then, Jesus prays for the reign of God to come—God’s reign of love, justice, and peace.
And then he prays that God’s will might be done here on earth, which means the kind of love for God that shows itself in love of neighbor.
So, Jesus’ first prayers are outside himself—he is giving God praise and praying for this world, so in need of God’s help.
Then, he prays more personally. He prays for bread for today—not for a stockpile or for food for a month, but just for today.
And he asks forgiveness for sins, with the reminder that we also are obliged to forgive one another.
He prays that God will not lead us to a time of trial or testing, but that God would deliver us from the evil one.
And notice that word, “us.” All these petitions—every one of them—is in the first person, plural. This is a prayer that binds us, unites us, reminds us that we are one. Even if we say it in different words, we can still share the one we know by heart when we are together.
Prayerful/ Playful Practice 3:
I have a friend on Facebook who, every evening, posts “I’m going to be praying with my pens. How can I pray for you?”
And then she proceeds to take her pens of many colors, and to color her prayers. I witnessed one of our confirmation class members doing this. Every so often I will be handed a bulletin by someone whose child has drawn pictures from the stories we’ve read during worship, or simply pictures of Jesus. One of these pictures was drawn by an adult.
These are prayers.
You don’t have to be an artist to do pray in this way. Start with doodling and see what happens. You know what’s really easy to doodle? Grapes. Doodle grapes, and see what happens. Or take one facet of a beloved Bible story and draw that. Take one character of the story and draw them. Or take one word that touched your heart in that story and make it beautiful on the page. Or color in some other way—make it abstract, but you’ll know what it means.
This practice may help if you’re having trouble getting started with prayer. We are all different—not every way of praying will work well for every person. We have to find the way that will light us up and feed us for the day ahead—or that will give our hearts a sense of peace and help us to lie down and sleep unafraid.
Prayerful/ Playful Practice 4:
Do you ever hear people ask for prayers and then forget who said what? Or do you say, “Praying for you!” in answer to a post online, but then, kind of forget to do that?
Here’s what you need: a clean, empty jar; a small pad of notes—post-it size are fine; a pen or pencil; a candle; some matches.
First, carry your pen or pencil and notepad with you. Then, write one name on every note. If you want, write what their prayer request is. When you are at home, fold up the papers and put them in your jar.
Then, some time for prayer. Sit in a comfortable place and light the candle. Then take your jar, which will have lots of little, folded-up pieces of paper in it. Start simply, by saying something like, God, hear my prayers for these, my friends. Then, take out one piece of paper at a time. Read their name aloud, if you like. Think about that person; how you know each other, and why you’re praying for them. Then offer a simple one-sentence prayer. God, take care of Jeff’s cough. And so on.
Continue until you’ve read all the names in the jar and said all the prayers for them.
Then add a prayer for yourself. Perhaps say the Lord’s prayer.
Then, put all the papers back in the jar, light a match, and burn them.
Don’t do this near your smoke detector. If you have a lid, put it on as soon as the prayers are all burned, to limit the smoke (it will not take long).
Later, you can wash the jar and begin again.
Recommended that you do this at least once a week.
Prayerful/ Playful Practice 5: The Prayer Pinwheel
This is perhaps the most playful practice we will talk about today. Whenever we pray, we are trusting that our prayers are heard by God. By using a pinwheel, which I just happen to have right here, we can visualize our prayers spinning out into the universe, carrying the joy of our play with them. We can do this while we are walking or we can spin the pinwheel using our breath, or let a breeze do this for you.
I’d like to share tonight’s pinwheel prayer with you:
Loving God, God of play, hear my prayers as they spin through the universe on their way to you. I ask your blessing for the people of this faith community, as we seek more and better ways to love and serve you and our neighbors. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
And now, with some gentle breaths, my pinwheel prayers are on their way.
Blessed be the name of the Lord, and blessed be our prayers. Amen.