How to Pray

This sermon was preached at our Sunday morning service on Sunday 21st May, the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Gospel was John 17:1-11. I hope you enjoy reading it!

Before I start this morning, I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge Peter, who is leading our intercessions today. Today is a really hard week to lead the intercessions, because today’s Gospel is basically one long prayer, and so, maybe you can guess what I’m going to be preaching about! Sorry about that, Peter! Don’t change anything in what you’ve written in response to my sermon today though! Don’t worry; I’ll make that clearer later as to why!

Who knew the Pope had a holy hotline?

All the commentaries I’ve read on today’s Gospel passage talk about it being a model for prayer. And I think there is certainly something in that. In the other three Gospels, the disciples ask Jesus to show them how to pray, and he duly does as he is asked. “When you pray,” he says, “pray like this…” And then we get the most famous prayer in the world, the Lord’s Prayer.

In the Gospel of John, there is no “Our Father, who art in heaven”. The disciples don’t even ask in the first place.

Instead, we get today’s Gospel reading. According to John, this is the Lord’s Prayer. And in John’s Gospel, it’s the last prayer Jesus prays. There is no quiet place in the Garden of Gethsemane. There is no “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. There is no “Father into your hands, I commit my spirit”.

We’re here, at the last Sunday of Easter, the last time that Jesus is with his disciples before his death, and - according to St John, at least - listening in on Jesus’ last prayer.

Things are changing.

This is the last prayer in John’s Gospel. It’s the longest prayer in any of the gospels, and we’re reading it at a really significant time in the Church’s year. It must have some good stuff to tell us! OK, Jesus, let’s go! Hit me with your curtain-call; your best bits; show us how to pray!

But, here’s my problem. I can say this to you; we’re all friends here, right? 

Jesus’ prayer here is not very good. 

                                                         I mean - it’s rubbish!

The commentators tell us this is a model for prayer, but I’ve read it over, and over again and it’s so hard to get my head around! There’s no structure - it doesn’t help that punctuation in the Bible is limited at best, but I really find it such a hard prayer to understand.

 Here - read it again.

I mean, honestly; this is not going to win the Best Prayer 33AD competition. You’re not going to find it in the Church of England lectionary; it just reads like an off-the-cuff, stream of consciousness prayer. I don’t know if you’ve ever turned on the transcript function in Microsoft Teams, or Zoom and read that? That’s exactly what this reminds me of - a written transcript of a conversation; and those are never easy to follow.

How is this supposed to be a model for prayer? An off-the-cuff, stream of consciousness conversation? If I’d submitted this as a prayer I’d crafted for my Readership training when I did that, I’d have been asked to stay behind by the tutor.

It’s not crafted. It’s not structured. It’s not readable!

Anyone could have written this. There are thousands of books on Amazon, all answering the question, ‘how to pray’; I mean, it really would have been helpful for Jesus to read some of those first before he prayed this prayer - in public too; this was in front of all his disciples! He doesn’t even get any of the formality right! Where’s the appropriate introduction? Where - for that matter - is the flipping ‘Amen’?!

What sort of model for prayer is this? That there’s no formality? No structure? No concern over it being repetitive? An off-the cuff, 

                                                                               intimate conversation 

                                                                                                                   between 

                    the divine 

                                      and 

                                             the 

                                                      human.

A prayer 

               that is not concerned for how it is heard by anyone else, other than it’s Godly audience.

A prayer 

               that is genuine, that responds to the moment, and needs no script.

A prayer 

               that anyone could have written; no need for expensive books off Amazon, or fancy Church training; a prayer that is as natural as a chat with a best friend, or a loved one.

Things are changing. Prayer has changed.

When Jesus dies on the cross, the temple curtain rips in two, and that curtain showed where the priests could go to meet with God. 

But not you. 

But it’s ripped now; there’s nothing stopping the dogs in the courtyard trotting into the Holy of Holies. 

There’s nothing stopping you. 

You don’t need the training; you don’t need the right words; you don’t even need to know what you’re going to say when you open your mouth - it’s not like you plan your conversations word-for-word, is it (well, not all the time, at least!)?

This is the model; this is revolutionary. If Jesus’ prayer can read so badly then, believe me - yours are going to be just grand.

I said I’d come back to Peter and our intercessions. Jesus’ prayer - and most of our prayers - will be individual. Sure, Jesus’ was said aloud, in public, but he was praying for others, not leading them in prayer; and that’s the difference. With our intercessions later, Peter will be our spokesperson, leading us together in prayer; that will obviously need a little more formality, more structure - and usually a script to enable us all to pray together.

But, as for you, when you pray, let me encourage you to join the revolution Jesus started 2000 years ago. Just open your mouth, and have a chat. And don’t give a fig about how anyone else says you should do it, the right words to use, or even what it sounds like. That’s honestly it. That’s the model. You’ve been let in on the secret of how to pray.

I hope I’ve saved you £12.99 on Amazon.

Amen.