Teach Us to Prayer 1
A CNBC reporter gives this sobering information: All this [pandemic lockup] has led to a massive drop in air pollution, which kills a total of 4.2 million people every year, and over 1 million in China alone. The last two months have seen a huge uptick in air quality, especially in hard-hit areas like Wuhan and Northern Italy, as well as a number of metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. By one conservative estimate, cleaner air has saved about 50,000 lives in China alone over these past few months (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/27/how-coronavirus-quarantines-have-greatly-reduced-carbon-emissions.html)
Satellite images taken recently are showing that in once smoggy cities there is fresh air to breathe. The masks people are wearing are not for protection from pollution but from Covid 19. Solitude curtails pollution. Turns out a microscopic virus is a jubilee for the earth. A respite from polluting the world. People in northern India had forgotten that the majestic Himalayan mountains can be seen from 100 miles away!
The Psalmist prayed, “You brought me out into a spacious place!” (Psalm 18:19). Fresh air is once more available by simply stepping outside, mask or no mask.
The fog of our own polluted souls lifts as the church learns the clarity prayer creates within. We’re rediscovering this essential business in church life. We breathe the fresh air of prayer and Bible reading. We care for souls, listening to others. We worship reverently. We serve. We love. We testify. These are essential soul-nourishing activities, learned as we rest quietly in God’s presence. We begin to hear his voice, not ours! The scales fall from our eyes.
Google searches for “prayer” have dramatically increased. Crises point us godward in our search for answers. We shouldn’t be surprised. 150 Psalms tell us so. We’re confined at home. Fearful. Anxious. Bored. Irritated and frustrated. It’s not false news reporting. We know it firsthand!
Prayer ushers us into the real world the Psalmists knew. Real praying is seeing with divine eyes. In this pervasive Covid 19 world many are searching for real prayer. Less religious. Simpler. Authentic. Harmonious with God’s will. One author defines prayer cogently: prayer is simply talking to God about what we are doing together. (Dallas Willard: The Divine Conspiracy, p. 243). It takes real listening. Watchfulness. Paying attention.
The disciples asked Jesus to explain his intimacy with God in prayer. They heard his heart-felt “Abba” coming from his lips. They craved the same. They often observed him alone, quiet, restful, praying to Abba. Clear eyed and pure hearted in prayer. They sensed a revolution was under way. Not with sword but with words reaching the heavens. They saw miracles, heard teachings, pondered what they were hearing, studied his character, noticed his kind and gentle ways. They believed his mission was theirs, his vision for the world was right, what everyone needed. Prayer had a lot to do with it. “Lord, teach us to pray like you do.” Teach us to team up with God in what he is doing! He did (Luke 11:1-4).
A friend lamented, “I have so many people to pray for I need all day to pray for them. Is there a way to make my prayer times more effective?” The Lord’s Prayer covered our needs without excess words, without unnecessary specifics and particulars. Praying for people by name in their situation is a good thing. The prayer Jesus taught us shows how.
1. Praying that we all come to delight in God as our loving Father who is near and ready to help.
2. Praying to surrender to God’s way of living in his kingdom in all our circumstances
3. Praying, confident that Abba delights to provide all I need every day.
4. Praying for power to receive forgiveness and extend forgiveness to all the sins of others.
5. Praying that God be there to protect us from bad things happening to us and the ones on our prayer lists.
There is no prayer more profound, more inclusive than this prayer! The fog obscuring our spiritual sight dissipates.
The walls restricting our vision crumble. In prayer we see how active God is. We realize our restrictions are of our own making. Our souls find relief. Depression, fear, anxious thoughts, uncertainty and mixed emotions give way to love, joy, peace, hope, and trust. We exhale the false narratives the media paints of reality. We inhale the true narrative of a Good and Beautiful God at work in his world. God putting the world to right.
The Holy Spirit is working deeply in our spirits, helping us groan and long for reality, for the kingdom of God. Just as Jesus longed, giving his own life for it! His grace is opening our hearts. His kingdom is now available to all and is constantly invading our world. Prayer is the lens through which we see this reality of the ever-arriving kingdom of God. I wonder how many the fresh air of praying like our Lord will save today! May the pollutions of our own lives be lifted as we learn the fresh air of prayer. May we give ourselves to the work of prayer.