“Caught in the act”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, July 24, 2022
Luke 11:1-13 (Forward, p. 87) CEV p. 1074
Often, if you are like me, you think of prayer as something periphery, as something separate and somewhat divorced from the usual activities of life. In other words, we think of our daily activities as one sphere of life, and prayer as something largely separated from those activities.
And yet, as one reads the accounts of the life of Jesus, especially those in the Gospel of Luke, we find that prayer permeated and undergirded everything that Jesus did. Before choosing the Twelve, after the Feeding of the 5,000, after His successful Galilean mission trip, in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on many other occasions, we find Him at prayer. And surely the disciples could not help noticing this and be impressed with this. No wonder they pointedly asked Him to teach them how to pray.
But surely, there was much more to Jesus’ prayer life that just these specific, noticeable occasions. Jesus repeatedly says that He does nothing without the Father’s direction and permission, so surely much of Jesus’ prayer life, if you want to call it that, must have consisted of an active and intentional listening for God’s voice and God’s direction. (I have met a few people like that and their ability to tune into God’s voice and hear it is quite remarkable. Interestingly, these folks were quite deliberate in this, and actually cocked the ear as if to listen more carefully and acutely. It was almost like having an earbud that directly transmits sound to one’s ear.)
But, with Jesus, I am sure that there was more to His prayer life than just these things. From what I read of Jesus, He was in direct communication, in a direct relationship, with the Father. So, much of His prayer life would have consisted in simply basking in the Father’s presence, being with Him and enjoying His company. There was a oneness, an openness, and an availability there that we can scarcely even imagine.
No wonder the disciples wanted to know more. Jesus had been ‘caught in the act’ as it were, in terms of prayer—and not just in His more formal times of prayer—but always and in everything. No wonder they wanted to know more. And, in like manner, so should we all. Amen.
Forward notes: “[Jesus] was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples”” (verse 1).
“We’re deep into what is often called ‘Ordinary Time.’ This long season after Pentecost feels far away from the cycles of preparation, repentance, and celebration that make up so much of the church year. This time might not feel as significant as seasons like Christmastide and Lent, but I love it. Our readings span from the miraculous to the quiet, even mundane—just like our own ordinary times.
“Today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke holds both the transcendentally sacred and the simplest clarity together in our hands. Jesus gives us the words of the Lord’s Prayer, one of the most pivotal statements of faith in all the world, translated into nearly every human language, known by every Christian. Jesus is teaching and praying and laying out a vision of how our lives will be transformed by dedication to a life of faith. And it all starts when one of the disciples says, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ May we all let God’s transformative love into our ‘ordinary’ times.”
Moving Forward: “Let God turn your ordinary times into extraordinary ones.”