Pray ‘On Your Knees’, Rev. Peter Heinrichs
Sunday, February 10, 2018
Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,[a] 15 from whom every family[b] in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Let’s begin this sermon time with a brief experience of prayer together. I invite you to take out your bulletin and let’s read together the Meditation prayer, adapted from the Ephesians text. There are three sentences in the prayer. Let’s read one sentence at a time and pause for 10 seconds after each sentence. We will say Amen after the third ten second pause.
So, what was it like to pray the prayer together and pause between sentences? {Pause} There’s a lot in this prayer! Let me ask you. What stood out for you? {Pause for answers} Did anything feel personal for you? {Pause for answers}
When Paul wrote the original prayer – the one we heard a moment ago as scripture for today – it says he goes down on his knees to pray for you and me. Imagine that. He so believes that though the particulars of life are uncertain, what is certain is that we are held in the height and depth and length and breadth of God’s love. He is so certain that the fullness of God is already in us that all we need to do is believe it and practice it on ourselves. He so wants us to know what he knows, that he will go ‘down on his knees.’
In Paul’s mind we sometimes treat prayer like a family planning to go on a trip. So often, folks, we’re more concerned about getting our prayer to look and sound right than simply praying. It’s like we’re a family planning to go on a trip. We decide it would feel great to get away for the weekend. But do we just throw a few things in a suitcase, climb into the car and see where the road takes us? Oh, no! We discuss who wants to go where, search for accommodations that have everything we want: the right size beds, the right view, the right décor and of course, the right number of positive reviews online. Not to mention what’s the best route, the least traffic, the most photo opps. No, Paul says, No. Stop with the plans. Stop with the pray-cation already. {I just made up that word ‘pray-cation’} Prayer is a key to life. Just put the key in the ignition and go. The trip will work itself out. Just go!
Just pray. Talk to God. Use the key. Try out different words, if you need to, until you’re saying what’s really in your heart. Just pray. Then listen. God will respond. Go about your day. Notice as life brings you opportunities to be ‘rooted and grounded in love’. Just pray.
Prayer isn’t getting the right life. It’s about getting a love that works.
Now Paul says, I bow my knees in prayer. You don’t have to go down on the floor on your knees here. I wouldn’t ask that. If we did, we might have to call Emergency Services to get us back up in our seats. Am I wrong? Speak for yourself, you say?
You don’t need to suffer in order to pray. But as you pray, simply remember that you are not in charge of the universe and don’t need to pretend to be. Ask to know the ‘breadth and the length and the height and the depth’ of your life. You’re not in charge. Just ask.
If nothing else, when you get up in the morning, ask the question this way: God, where am I going to meet you today? And when you go to bed: Where did I meet you today’ This doesn’t have to be hard. Listen to your own life! What moved you? What stretched you? What left you empty? What might God’s Spirit be inviting you to look at?
None of us is ever going to know enough to be certain about the future. The universe cannot deliver that kind of certainty. This is why people get disappointed in God, in prayer. Prayer, we believe, ought to predict what we think we need. Prayer ought to save us from our own fear.
But prayer delivers something even better. Prayer can reveal a knowledge of who I am – who you are – the length and breadth and height and depth of us. Prayer ‘on my knees’ is about wanting to know who I am rather than what is going to happen to me. Underneath all my stories and apparent needs, who am I, actually?
I am in Christ. That’s who I am. I’m not solely Peter. I am in Christ. I am part of the height that makes life beautiful and the depth that can hold every sadness. I am part of the breadth that is breath-taking and the length that goes beyond my years. I am stretched in Christ. And I want to know still more. Because in Christ everything that happens to me can be met without the power of fear.
This sort of knowledge I hang on to for dear life.
And so I pray. I pray with you. Together as a people of God we do not need to go down on our knees. But we can name and claim a faith worth hanging on to! So we all can pray together with Paul, in confidence and acclamation: Now, Lord, who by your power at work within us is able to accomplish far more than we can ask or imagine, to you be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus now and forever. Amen.
Sunday, February 10, 2018
Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,[a] 15 from whom every family[b] in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Let’s begin this sermon time with a brief experience of prayer together. I invite you to take out your bulletin and let’s read together the Meditation prayer, adapted from the Ephesians text. There are three sentences in the prayer. Let’s read one sentence at a time and pause for 10 seconds after each sentence. We will say Amen after the third ten second pause.
So, what was it like to pray the prayer together and pause between sentences? {Pause} There’s a lot in this prayer! Let me ask you. What stood out for you? {Pause for answers} Did anything feel personal for you? {Pause for answers}
When Paul wrote the original prayer – the one we heard a moment ago as scripture for today – it says he goes down on his knees to pray for you and me. Imagine that. He so believes that though the particulars of life are uncertain, what is certain is that we are held in the height and depth and length and breadth of God’s love. He is so certain that the fullness of God is already in us that all we need to do is believe it and practice it on ourselves. He so wants us to know what he knows, that he will go ‘down on his knees.’
In Paul’s mind we sometimes treat prayer like a family planning to go on a trip. So often, folks, we’re more concerned about getting our prayer to look and sound right than simply praying. It’s like we’re a family planning to go on a trip. We decide it would feel great to get away for the weekend. But do we just throw a few things in a suitcase, climb into the car and see where the road takes us? Oh, no! We discuss who wants to go where, search for accommodations that have everything we want: the right size beds, the right view, the right décor and of course, the right number of positive reviews online. Not to mention what’s the best route, the least traffic, the most photo opps. No, Paul says, No. Stop with the plans. Stop with the pray-cation already. {I just made up that word ‘pray-cation’} Prayer is a key to life. Just put the key in the ignition and go. The trip will work itself out. Just go!
Just pray. Talk to God. Use the key. Try out different words, if you need to, until you’re saying what’s really in your heart. Just pray. Then listen. God will respond. Go about your day. Notice as life brings you opportunities to be ‘rooted and grounded in love’. Just pray.
Prayer isn’t getting the right life. It’s about getting a love that works.
Now Paul says, I bow my knees in prayer. You don’t have to go down on the floor on your knees here. I wouldn’t ask that. If we did, we might have to call Emergency Services to get us back up in our seats. Am I wrong? Speak for yourself, you say?
You don’t need to suffer in order to pray. But as you pray, simply remember that you are not in charge of the universe and don’t need to pretend to be. Ask to know the ‘breadth and the length and the height and the depth’ of your life. You’re not in charge. Just ask.
If nothing else, when you get up in the morning, ask the question this way: God, where am I going to meet you today? And when you go to bed: Where did I meet you today’ This doesn’t have to be hard. Listen to your own life! What moved you? What stretched you? What left you empty? What might God’s Spirit be inviting you to look at?
None of us is ever going to know enough to be certain about the future. The universe cannot deliver that kind of certainty. This is why people get disappointed in God, in prayer. Prayer, we believe, ought to predict what we think we need. Prayer ought to save us from our own fear.
But prayer delivers something even better. Prayer can reveal a knowledge of who I am – who you are – the length and breadth and height and depth of us. Prayer ‘on my knees’ is about wanting to know who I am rather than what is going to happen to me. Underneath all my stories and apparent needs, who am I, actually?
I am in Christ. That’s who I am. I’m not solely Peter. I am in Christ. I am part of the height that makes life beautiful and the depth that can hold every sadness. I am part of the breadth that is breath-taking and the length that goes beyond my years. I am stretched in Christ. And I want to know still more. Because in Christ everything that happens to me can be met without the power of fear.
This sort of knowledge I hang on to for dear life.
And so I pray. I pray with you. Together as a people of God we do not need to go down on our knees. But we can name and claim a faith worth hanging on to! So we all can pray together with Paul, in confidence and acclamation: Now, Lord, who by your power at work within us is able to accomplish far more than we can ask or imagine, to you be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus now and forever. Amen.