Proper 12C (Pentecost 7), 2025

Text: Luke 11:1-13 

Title: Prayer

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“All we can do now is pray.”

Have you ever heard those words?  Have you ever spoken them?

For some, prayer is a last resort, a Hail Mary, a last-ditch effort when all else has failed.

Is prayer a regular part of your life?  Are you going to your Father daily, regularly, without ceasing?  Or is prayer reserved for rare occasions, times when you have no other options?

Why is prayer so often neglected by us?

Prayer flows from faith.  The only reason to pray is because you believe that someone is listening. 

If you don’t believe in God, there’s no reason to pray.

But it’s not enough merely to believe that God exists.

What is this God’s relationship to you?  Why would He listen to your prayer?

If God were a distant monarch with no personal connection to you, prayer would not be worth your time.

For example, if you write a letter to the president, chances are, he will never see your letter or send you a personal response.

Sure, a secretary somewhere will open your letter. And you can probably expect to get a form letter signed by an autopen sometime in the future.  But I doubt that the president will take an active interest in your letter or grant any of your requests.

But if you were write a letter to your Father, or give him a call, or send him a text, you’re almost certain that he’ll read it, that he’ll talk to you, that he’ll carefully consider whatever it is that you ask.

That’s because your father loves you.  He cares about you.  He wants what is best for you and he will do anything in His power to give you what you ask for, especially if you’re asking for good and beneficial things.

You’re not going to find snakes and scorpions under the Christmas tree.

Your father is not going to give you things that will hurt and harm you.

Now, all earthly fathers are sinful.  And some fathers may not do a good job of loving their children and giving them what they need.  Some fathers are absent, neglectful, or even abusive.

But not your heavenly Father.  He loves you with a perfect love. 

He created in His own image.  He gave you your body and soul, eyes, ears, and all your members, your reason, and all your senses and still takes care of them. 

He also gives you clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, land, animals, and all you have.  He daily and richly provides you with all you need to support your body and life.

You don’t just have the bare minimum.  God hasn’t just given you bread and water. How much food is in your fridge and pantry right now?  How many sets of clothes are in your closet and dresser that you never even wear? How many electronic gadgets and gizmos fill your home?

Everything that you have is a gift from your loving heavenly Father.

And it’s not just earthly goods that your Father gives you.  He gives you what is most dear and precious to Him, even His only Son, Jesus Christ. 

Your Father sent Him to earth, knowing that He would suffer and die.  But the Father sent Him out of love, because He wanted you to have eternal life.

Without this gift from the Father, you would be lost forever.  As St. Paul says, “you... were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh.” 

You could do nothing to pay the incredible debt that you owed through sin.  But through Jesus’ death, your debt was canceled because Jesus paid it in full.

Imagine getting a notice in the mail tomorrow that your mortgage was paid off, or your student loans, or your car loan, or your credit cards, all your debts completely and total paid for.

I’d imagine that you’d be thankful to whomever paid those off for you.

And that’s another reason why we pray.  We don’t often recognize all the gifts that we have in life or acknowledge that God has given them to us.  We like to think that all we have is due to our own hard work.

But in the end, all that you have, not just the earthly, but also and especially the spiritual blessings are gifts from your loving heavenly Father.  “For all this it my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.”

People often wonder why we should even bother praying. God knows everything.  God gives you what you need even before you ask. Why bother?

Prayer helps us to recognize and depend on God for what we need.  It also leads us to give thanks to Him for our blessings.  So that when you feel better after an illness or make it through a surgery, you take a moment to thank God.  When you pass that test you were worried about or get that job you were hoping for, you take a moment to thank God.

But what about the times when your prayers aren’t answered?  What about the times when prayer doesn’t seem to do any good?

I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of praying for someone to be healed, and they weren’t.

What about all the parents in Texas who prayed fervently for their children to survive the flood and to be found safe and sound, only to receive the devastating news that they didn’t make it?

This is probably one of the main reasons why people stop praying.  It doesn’t seem to do any good.

Remember that God is your Father. 

There are times when Fathers know what’s best for their children, and their children can’t see it or comprehend it.  It seems as though their father is being mean, cruel, and uncaring.

In the end, children must simply trust that their father knows best, even when it doesn’t seem like it.

How much more so with your heavenly Father. He loves you.  He will give you what is best for you.  His good and gracious will will be done in your life.

It may not seem like it.  As Jesus was dying on the cross, God must have seemed like the most cruel, heartless parent ever.

But God raised Jesus from the dead, and raised Him to His own right hand in glory.

And God will raise you, too.  No matter how bad things get here on earth.  Even when death comes for you, despite all your prayers and all your family’s prayers to the contrary.  Jesus will return.  And you will rise.  And God will make everything good and right and holy once more.

And ultimately, that’s what we pray for.  We don’t just pray for a few trinkets or a little more time in a dying world.  We pray for the return of Christ.  We pray for a new heaven and a new earth.  We pray for forgiveness so that we can be there to enjoy it.  And we pray for the Holy Spirit to strengthen our faith and keep us in Christ until that day.

And your heavenly Father hears those prayers. And He grants them for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.