Prayer is a subject much written about and much talked about. Doing what I do now, people ask me for prayer, sometimes in a written form, to keep beside them in hospital or wherever.

Let’s be honest, it’s not always easy to pray, is it? I recall many years ago, going through a difficult patch in my own life, when I really struggled to pray. There were no words. I’d settle down to pray and nothing came out. In the end, my prayer became, “Lord, teach me how to pray when I don’t know what to say”.

Today we’re reminded of the disciples seeking help from Jesus in a similar way. His response (according to Luke, which we heard today) tells them they should speak simply and directly to God as Father. His teaching also says we are to ask for whatever we need.

I wonder though, how good are we at asking? It’s easier to ask for the needs of others, but how good are we at asking for ourselves? And how good are we at praying in the first place? I am certain that the cry, “Lord, teach us to pray” is as commonly heard today as it was then.

I’m currently reading a book entitled [The] “Essence of Prayer” by Ruth Burrows who is a Carmelite nun at Quidenham in Norfolk. She observes that often, when Christians talk about prayer, they seem to have in mind something that they themselves must do. But, [she says] seen in that way, prayer confronts us with questions, problems, confusion and discouragement. She is convinced of the importance of correcting this view. Faith, she insists, assures us that prayer is essentially what God does, that is, how God addresses us and looks at us. And what God is doing for us in prayer is giving us Himself in love. She says we need not look for success in prayer to provide us with the reassurance we crave, but rather, in prayer, what we do is hand ourselves over to God – who is divine Love – to find all the reassurance we need in living, not for ourselves, but for Him.

OK, say I, I like that idea. But then the onus is still on us to put ourselves in the place of prayer in the first place. That is, to stop still for long enough to tell ourselves we are going into ‘prayer mode’. Only then may we become aware of what God may be trying to say to us or give to us.

Prayer requires faith and trust. We know that Jesus continues to intercede for us on our behalf. Knowing this reminds us that we do not depend on our own prayers, our own ways of getting in touch with God, pleasing him, seeking His forgiveness and so on. We know that, by the grace of God, Jesus has won this for us, at great cost upon the Cross. God’s fountain of love is there for us, overflowing, and all that we have to do is drink. Here, gathered together as the Body of Christ, we are continually ‘mingling’ with Jesus, immersing ourselves in what he is doing.

OK, you might say, this is a lovely image, made easier to remember when we’re together in church, praying, worshipping God, sharing the Eucharist together. But what about those times when we’re on our own, when we try to pray, when God seems far away and we’re distracted?

This seems to be partly what our epistle reading is seeking to address. Deciphering any of these pastoral letters is a bit like listening to someone on the phone – you only get one side of the conversation. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul clearly believes that his readers need reminding of the importance of their dependence upon Christ in whom they are rooted and grounded. Picture the roots of a tree spreading deep and far and wide, then see these as the roots of your faith in Christ which prevent you from being swayed by any other spirits or distractions of this world.

The key message comes in verses 6 and 7: “Continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Here, Jesus is the source of our nurture, as well as our continued growth and development. To be established in our faith means to be secure, which is why our proper response to receiving Jesus into our lives is one of joyous thanksgiving.

Joyous thanksgiving is an essential element of prayer. Prayer is indispensable because it puts us in touch with the incredible generosity of God. “Successful prayer”, then, depends not on the methods or strategies we employ (that is, what time of day we pray or the posture we assume), but on a listening Father, to whom we are constantly referred.

Prayer begins with Jesus – seeing Jesus at prayer – noticing the times when he disappeared to pray – prompted the disciples to ask him for instruction. What Jesus gave them first was a model prayer, then a parable that by contrast stresses the character of God, and finally reassurance that, as their heavenly Father, God will answer the petitions of His children and grant them the Holy Spirit.

Of course we know the model prayer as the basis for The Lord’s Prayer as we know it, therein lies a danger: that is, over-familiarity. Can it teach us anything new? Well if you’ll bear with me, I’d like to make two observations which are important for the understanding of the rest of today’s Gospel passage.

Firstly, God is addressed as “Father” and so the disciples – we – are invited to pray with the same familiarity that Jesus prayed. The fact that the one to whom we pray can be thought of in such an intimate way, helps us to be confident in offering our prayers.

Secondly, this model prayer which Luke records is exclusively asking. It contains no adoration, no thanksgiving, no confession, only five requests for God to do something. The disciples here are being taught what their real needs are and to whom they need to go for satisfaction. God in turn is being asked to fulfil the promises previously made about His name and supreme rule, and about the care and protection of His people.

To understand the parable that follows of ‘The friend at midnight’, we need to understand a little of Middle Eastern culture, which places a high value on hospitality. Many people travelled, but most of the inns were disreputable, often brothels or places where magic was practiced. Travellers had to depend on friends or friends of friends for lodging along the way. Try imagining the parable itself being in the form of a question: “Which of you will go to your next-door neighbour at midnight and ask to borrow bread for an unexpected guest and be turned down?” The anticipated answer would be, “Why, none of us. We don’t have unresponsive neighbours. It is unthinkable that a request like that would be denied.” But the neighbour has excuses. Unbolting the door is bound to wake up the children, and there goes his rest. The narrator of the story adds, “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs”.

And then the mini-parables accumulate rapidly and with increasing urgency: Jesus says, ask, search, find, knock, and the door shall be opened. Will you give your child a snake or a scorpion if they ask for a fish or an egg? Of course not! And if you who are weak and sinful respond generously to the needs of others, how much more will your heavenly Father respond to those who pray!

God, then, is contrasted with the unfriendly neighbour. If the neighbour who is initially prone to refuse requests, then finally responds to avoid shame, how much more will God respond to the pleas of the people of God? God can be trusted, is Jesus’ message. He says, ask, search, knock, because God is not reluctant or hesitant.

If we take one thing away with us this morning, let it be this: God can be trusted. Just as our friends, despite inconvenience to themselves, come through for us when we appeal to them in our times of need (even though their motives might at times be mixed), so God will answer our prayers. As our Father he cannot be less dependable than our human friends.

All He asks is that we allow a little of our God-given time and space to rest in His presence, to pray the concerns on our hearts, whether through a set form or not worrying what words we will use, yet confident that He hears us when we pray in faith; and when we have no words, confident that He reads our hearts.

Because prayer is rooted in the kindliness and generosity of God, He makes it possible for any of us stumbling disciples to ask for what we need for our journey. Through prayer the God of Love gives us Himself and then sends us out to share His love with others.

Lord, teach us all how to pray.

Amen.