“My spiritual life is stagnant.” “I’m not even sure God is there.” “I’ve tried praying; it doesn’t work.” “I wish I could trust God more, but I am so anxious.” “Does God answer prayer?” “What is prayer for anyway?” “Why won’t God change me?” “Why am I so afraid?” “What if…my life could be different?”

“Why has no one taught me how to pray?”

The Christian life is a life of prayer. Followers of Jesus are invited to move beyond a prayer list to a prayer life. However, prayer is difficult! How does one become good at it?

Lord, Teach us to Pray…

One day we will have occasion to sit around with Jesus. We will thank him for salvation, for journeying to the cross…we will want to know more about how the whole Resurrection-thing went down. And, hopefully, we will thank him for one of the greatest gifts he gave to us in this life: his teaching us how to pray the Lord’s prayer.

Lord, Teach us to Pray…

A 2020 survey suggested 79% of Americans prayed in the last month. If you throw in: “Jesus Christ,” “God help me,” and “For Christ’s sake,” then maybe it is 100%. In this light, everybody prays. Yet, 94% of Christians wish they prayed more and with more fervor and direction. And so, everyone thinks their prayer life stinks.

Lord, Teach us to Pray…

Everybody prays, and everyone thinks their prayer life stinks. Let’s just admit it, then take Jesus up on his offer to teach us how to pray. G.K. Chesterton wrote in Orthodoxy: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.” Let’s don’t just give up! Let’s try it and see what happens! The Lord’s Prayer is a prayer said by millions of people every day, in every country, and in every language. It has been suggested that every single moment in time, someone is praying these words.

Lord, Teach us to Pray…

And so, here is the invitation and challenge: Beginning Sunday, June 25, and concluding Sunday, August 20, would you, Christian or otherwise, convinced or unconvinced, churched, de-churched, re-churched, under-churched, over-churched, un-churched, will you, commit to praying the Lord’s Prayer once a day seven days a week for nine weeks? For the last two Sundays of this Teaching Series (August 13 and 20) we will invite you to use the Prayer Request form to answer the question: How has praying the Lord’s Prayer daily for these weeks shaped your thoughts, feelings, and actions?

But in provoking us to this mission, Newbigin never lets us forget that our ultimate hermeneutic (or “proof”) of the Good News of Jesus is a church that believes this Gospel and lives it out in love for one another. This quote reminds me that my loving actions and loving words shared with my non-Christian neighbors will only go so far as the loving relationships that I experience in my church. The “proof is in the church” so to speak. 

And so, this summer and early fall, we are going to spend ten weeks delving into this radical love of Jesus that we are called to exhibit. Each week our goal will remain twofold: We will seek (1) to articulate different facets of this “one-anothering” love, and we will urge you (2) to live out this love as a vital component of Christ’s mission in the world.

In light of these goals, we would ask you to, first, consider taking up this Sermon Series in a learning community of some sort this summer and fall, perhaps in your community group or a “Table for Six” that hits it off. If you don’t have a group, let us pastors know–we will help you find one!

Make a commitment to meeting weekly or bi-monthly through mid-October, when the series concludes. Second, consider purchasing: Love One Another: Becoming the Church Jesus Longs For, by Gerald Sittser. The chapter content is slightly uneven in parts, but on the whole, this is a wonderful book. The Discussion Questions at the end of the book are worth its price because they will urge your group toward deeper reflection and intentional action. Please find a sample set of questions from Chapter 1 below. Also, bonus (!), Gerald Sittser will be our guest speaker on Sunday, October 24th!

Finally, one word of caution as you read this overview. It is a mere summary! Nuance and subtlety won’t make it into the descriptions of these mutuality commands. For instance, should a spouse “forbear” with an abusive spouse, and if so, then what does that look like? Delicate and difficult situations like this one will be taken up in the teachings and follow-up discussions.