| New Book now Available Here is an anthology of over 1100 brief prayers and thought-starters, for each day of the year, with almost 400 original prayers by Bruce Prewer. Included is both a subject index and an index of authors-- an ecumenical collection of about 300 different sources. |
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| Title: Brief Prayers for Busy People. Author: Bruce D Prewer ISBN 978-1-62880-090-6 Available from Australian Church Resources, web site www.acresources.com.au email service@acresources.com.au or by order from your local book shop or online on amazon. |
Year C, SUNDAY 17
24-30 July
Luke 11: 1-13.
(Sermon
1: “A Master Class”)
Colossians 2: 6-15
Hosea 1: 2-10
(Sermon
2: “Two Love Stories”)
Psalm 85
GATHERING AND FOCUSSING
We are here,
in the name of Christ Jesus.
So ask right now,
and it shall be given to you.
Seek right now,
and you will find.
Knock right now,
and the door will be opened.
OR -
If you, though corrupted, know how to give good
gifts to your children,
how much more
will the heavenly Father give
the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
God’s
salvation is at hand for those who stand in awe,
bringing glory to dwell in our land.
Ask and you will receive,
seek and you will find.
Faithfulness
shall spring up from the soil
and righteousness shine down
from the sky.
COMING BEFORE GOD
Holy God,
we come asking for more of your Spirit in our lives,
we come seeking a clearer understanding of your will,
we come knocking for doors of opportunity to open,
we come, knowing that you are always more ready to give
than we are to receive
Through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Amen!
FACING OUR SIN AND TRUSTING GOD’S REDEEMING GRACE
My sisters and brothers in the family of God, let each of us renew our trust in the saving grace of
Christ Jesus.
Let us pray.
Holy, awesome Friend, some of us have come here
feeling hassled and corrupted by the pressures and temptations of life. We need
help.
Please forgive
and restore us.
Holy Friend, some of us have
come here feeling not so much sinful as frustrated by our clumsiness and
stupidity. We need help.
Please quieten
and reclaim us.
Holy Friend, some of us have come here feeling
neither sinful nor stupid, but rather care-less or even cynical about ourselves
and others. We need help.
Please
confront and redeem us..
Holy God, we thank you that our judge is our saviour
and our saviour our judge. You best know what needs rooting out or
disinfecting, pruning or nourishing, weeding and nurturing.
By the grace
of Christ Jesus, may we be saved from all that is ruinous and re-established in
all that is healthy and strong. For
your love’s sake.
Amen!
ABSOLUTION
Holy Scripture declares: “God did not sent his Son into the world to condemn it, but that the
world through him might be saved.”
So ask right now,
and it shall be given to you.
Seek right now,
and you will find.
Knock right now,
and the door will be opened.
In the name of the Son I declare to each repentant
soul: Your sins are forgiven!
Thanks be to God!
PRAYER FOR CHILDREN
God’s
Love
Dear God,
if even our parents can still
love us
when we have been naughty,
how much more do you love us!
Thank you for never being put off by our sins,
thank you for sending Jesus to
prove your love,
thank you for gathering us back
into your loving arms.
Amen!
PSALM 85
God, you have always blessed this land,
you restore the health of its first people.
You forgive those who treated them so badly,
you are wiping out all the shame.
You have held back from fierce reprisals,
you are giving us another chance.
Continue to reshape us, healing God,
and don’t get impatient with us.
It isn’t like you to be relentless,
or to make our grandchildren pay.
Please revive our faith and love,
that we may again enjoy you.
Display your dependable love, God,
and give us complete liberation.
For you promise to speak peace to us,
to all who renounce their folly.
Your healing is with those who get serious,
and glory shall return to this land.
Unbroken love and fidelity will meet,
justice and peace will kiss each other.
Trust will grow up from the earth,
and justice will smile from the sky.
Yes, God will give us all that is best,
and our earth will be most bountiful.
True goodness will be like a pathway,
allowing God to walk among us.
© B.D. Prewer 2000
SO MUCH MORE
Ask
and you will receive
more than you bargained for.
Knock
and there will open up
a door to even more.
Seek
and you will find
that which cannot be found.
Give
and you will realise
you tread on holy ground..
© B.D. Prewer 1994
SERMON 1: A MASTER CLASS
Luke 11: 1-13
Many people become frustrated and disappointed with
praying. It does not seem to work for them. Maybe some of you are in that
position?
Today I offer you a “master class.” We have a lesson
in praying from an expert. Some tips from that Rabbi of Nazareth whom we name
as our Christ and Saviour.
The disciples came to him asking: “Master, teach us
to pray.” He dealt with their question
in three phases.
First: he gave an example of prayer.
Secondly: he told a story about a man who needed bread
at midnight.
Thirdly: he talked about a parent responding to a
child’s request for food.
Today I am going to try and follow this simple
lesson Jesus gave.
LESSON 1: AN EXAMPLE OF PRAYER
The Lord’s Prayer, we call it. We are so used to it
that it is hard to look at it afresh. But if we make the effort, we will notice
two things:
It is incredibly brief, and yet remarkably broad.
Now that is something! During my life there have
been times when I have suffered from some marathon pray-ers.
I don’t know who holds the record in the Guinness Book of Records, but I
suspect that some of the long-winded contestants I have known would at least
get an honourable mention. Sincere it certainly may have been, but one needed
hard training to survive the experience of being a witness to the event.
In contrast, Jesus covered everything in about 30
seconds. Now that is brief! Only one who is supremely qualified can offer that
concentrated wisdom.
Yet is also broad. There is nothing narrow,
limited, or introverted about it. Think about how much ground Jesus covered.
First: His prayer is God centred, not self centred. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” It takes us away from the weakness and
folly of humanity, to the glory, power and love of God. It puts God first. Here
we have worship; not religious self indulgence.
Secondly: The prayer expresses hope and concern for the world. “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as in heaven.”
This lifts us above immediate frustration and petty wants to the ultimate well
being of all. Our eyes are taken above the ant hills to the lofty mountains of
God’s destiny for humanity.
Thirdly: Now we come to a request that we (not I)
may possess the basic necessities for existence. “Give
us today our daily bread.” It is prayer for basics, not for luxuries. It is
also a prayer for the world family, not a short sighted request for my needs.
This is very unlike some of the “want lists” that sneak into our prayers.
Fourthly: Our
own spiritual needs. After the request for basic
physical necessities, comes one for our spiritual, personal needs: “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who
sin against us.” We seek the mercy
of God to set us free. To liberate from us from both the crippling burden of
own sins, and from the self-inflicted damage which the inevitable consequence
of nursing grudges against others.
Fifthly: May
God pity our weakness. The final sentence is a cry from the depths of the human heart; a
recognition of our frailty in the face of trials and temptations.:
“Do not put us to the test but deliver us
from evil”. We pray to be saved from both the blatant temptations, and the
subtle ones that are always at hand.
End of lesson 1.
(Remember that I said it took Jesus about 30 seconds
to say this brief prayer? Ironically, it has taken me a least
five minutes to make these few comments about it!)
A STORY: A MIDNIGHT REQUEST FOR BREAD.
Lesson 2.
The second lesson in this master class comes in the
form of a story. At midnight a man has an unexpected guest arrive seeking
hospitality. But there is no food in the larder. He has a neighbour who is a friend, one he
feels he can dare go to in the middle of the night. (Mark this! Midnight? The neighbour must be a really kind guy!) So he goes and knocks
on the door, waking the poor fellow up. The neighbour is not exactly thrilled
to be dragged from his bed. Nevertheless, because of the benign impudence
(Greek: anaidian) of the request, he gives the
petitioner the bread he asks for.
“There!” says Jesus. “Ask, seek, knock.... at any
time of day or night. You will not be ignored by God.”
It is important to note that in this story, an
analogy for prayer, the request is not for himself but
for another. The midnight prayer is for a needy traveller. There is nothing
selfish here. It is for
the needs of other travellers through life for whom we are told
to ask, seek and knock on God’s door.
The story is not about nagging God for more goodies
for ourselves. It is about loving others.
End of prayer lesson number 2.
LESSON 3: PARENTS AND GOD: HOW MUCH MORE!
The third lesson fro the Master pivots on the words: “How
much more”.
Jesus talks about being a good parent.
If a child asks for a fish to eat, a parent will not
give her a snake. If an egg is requested, the good parent will not put a stone
on the child’s plate.
Contaminated by evil though we are, we know how to
give good food to our children. (Well, most of the time! Don’t let us get
started on junk food!) “If you then, who
are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the
heavenly Father give.”
You will notice again that Jesus is talking about
basics. Good food, not luxuries for the over pampered. Fish and eggs were the
main source of protein in the common person’s diet. Not barramundi or coral
trout, but plain stubby little fish from Lake Galilee; the ones now called St
Peter fish. And eggs; not caviar but common hen’s eggs. Basics.
Please note the precious gift Jesus assumes we will
be asking for: How much more will your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.
This is the real thing: More of the Holy Spirit,
more of God intimately working in and through us.
More of God’s Presence. More of God’s love, truth
and comfort. More of his justice, wisdom, compassion
and joy.
This is the good gift God wants to give to those who
ask.
Maybe we don’t always want more of God. We want more
of our own plans and purposes, ambitions and comforts. Maybe we want more of
our pride, stubbornness and ego.
Perhaps we are afraid that if we have more of the
Holy Spirit in our lives we may need to change in unpalatable ways. Maybe we
prefer our religion in moderation rather than in complete dosage, and therefore
we limit the depth of our asking.
How much more is God ready to do for you?
End of lesson 3. in this
Master class.
LET’S SUMMARISE
Jesus gives three lessons in prayer:
1. An Example: A prayer that is God centred and
cares about others as well as ourselves.
It
is our Father in heaven who is worshipped, from whom our daily bread requested,
our sins forgiven,
and to whom in times of temptations we turn fro help.
2. A Story: A man who for the sake of a hungry guest, wakes a neighbour at midnight asking
for bread. God is open morning, noon and night as we pour
out our hearts in concern
for others.
3. A Comparison: Earthly parenting and God’s
parenting.
How much more will God give the Holy Spirit to
those who ask.
Maybe daily times of prayer are not so difficult?
Not so onerous and many seem to think?
If any should find it an onerous duty, the cause may
be a lack of self honesty?
It could be that we do not really want to
learn
the lessons Jesus has given us?
Or maybe we are reluctant to embrace the risks
involved in asking God for more of the Holy Spirit?
What do you think?
SERMON 2: TWIN LOVE STORIES
Hosea 1: 2-10
In the little Book Of
Hosea, we have a very odd love story.
In fact, we have two love stories. They come from
the 8th century before Jesus.. It is story of misfits.
Of goodness choosing depravity for a partner, of wisdom
embracing folly, of faithfulness marrying unfaithfulness.
My “take” on the story is not the only valid
interpretation.
Let me warn you that what we have in the pages of
Hosea are only fragments of the whole story.
The Hebrew text is incomplete. And even these fragments are jumbled in
places. But it is enough for us to try piece together some of the unusual
events in the life of the prophet Hosea..
THE STORY
A loving, decent bloke called Hosea.
A prophet of the Living God
to the kingdom of Israel. He believes it is time to get married. God is
leading him in this direction.
So what does he do?
Does he go to the local Jewish marriage broker and
ask for a suitable partner? Not this Jew.
Hosea gets a bee in his religious bonnet about the
matter.
He reckons God wants him to marry a particular type
of woman. Hosea hives off and chooses a wife from among the street girls. His
choice falls on a prostitute named Gomer. They are
married and set up home together. The holy man and the harlot.
It must have given the tongues of the town gossips
plenty to wag about!
I have a hunch that the things they said about Hosea
were not compliments. I wonder did that “odd couple” ever receive any
invitations to dinner among the upright people of the town?
Not likely, eh?
Did Hosea really expect this mismatch to work?
Against the odds? Evidently he did. Hosea
seems to be one of those rare people who reckon that faith and love can redeem
any situation. Where others get high-jacked by cynicism, this prophet of God
makes room for hope.
So how in fact did things turn out?
The arrangement appears to have worked for a few
years. Three children were born to this unusual marriage. Two
boys and a girl. Hosea gave them quirky names, but that is another
story.
We pause here in the saga and ask: What was Hosea on
about?
Why did he enter into this mismatch of a marriage?
Could there ever be anyone else who would make such an odd choice for a
marriage partner?
A GOD WHO IS
DECIDEDLY ODD
Hosea is not the only quirky person.
There is one other person who is also this odd. One other person who chooses to make a marriage out of a mismatch.
That person is God.
Hosea’s whole life was wrapped up in God.
What he was doing as a prophet was to try and
reflect the character of God. Hosea was responding to a God who makes an
unexpected, and from a reasonable view point, a most unwise choice.
God choose to “marry” beneath his class.
He chooses those unsavoury little creatures scrambling
around on planet earth who are called human beings. He chooses them to be soul
mates. And from within the range of races and nations, God chooses a minor and
cantankerous tribe called the Jews to be the agent of bringing all nations into
the light.
Imagine the host of angels watching this take place.
Out of all the choices in the universe and in the
heaven of high heavens, God chose to marry himself to humanity. Why humanity?
And if humanity, why the Jews?
It was not as if human beings,
were likeable.
They were not decent, wise, loving creatures, with
light and love flowing amongst them like an ocean of bliss. It was not as if
God fell in love with their beauty or their goodness. They were in fact, to
quote Jonathan Swift, a race of “odious little vermin.” Yet God chose to marry
the harlot named humanity.. To make
vows to her and cherish her with his whole being.
Hosea had his Gomer. God
had humanity.
This is amazing stuff, you know!
Amazing grace from the very beginning! To make an play on
the words of Charles Wesley: Amazing
love, how can it be, that you my God, should chose nerds like me?”
THE BROKEN MARRIAGE
How did Hosea’s marriage work out? What was the
progress report on the odd love affair?
We cannot be 100% sure.
It seems likely that Gomer
left Hosea .
She slipped back into her old ways. She became an
adulteress and then went on the street again, plying her trade as a harlot. One
could say she preferred depravity to salvation. (Who does that remind you of??)
Hosea would have been deeply hurt.
Who would not be?
It must have been a heart-wrenching event. Perhaps he arrived home one
day to find her missing. No prior warning.
No goodbye note. Just Gomer’s best clothes and
her make up missing. His love had remained firm. Her love was fickle.
Sadly, that is the way things were.
I guess there were neighbours who said “I told you
so.”
“Oil and water can’t mix,
they will revert to their separate ways. Forget her and get on with your life.”
At first hurt and rejected, Hosea may have become
angry.
Hurt would turn to anger at the spurning of his love
by Gomer. He had given her everything, and she repaid
him by making him the object of public ridicule. Some anger? O yes, I reckon!
Yet maybe the hardest thing of all was that he still
deeply cared.
Hosea was the type of person who continued to worry
about the well being of
Gomer. In spite of the wrongs she had
done him, he still loved her and longed for her rehabilitation.
OUR FICKLENESS AND GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
Once more we have here a reflection of God and
humanity.
Like Gomer, our
faithfulness proves disastrously fickle. God always keeps his side of the
covenant. On our side we fail badly and often. The glitter of the world draws
us away. And we go on the streets again, as it were.
Maybe at first we feel guilty.
But every new wilful action lessens our sensitivity
and we develop a tough hide.. Before long we look back
and mutter to ourselves.: “That religious phase was
bunk. It was a folly thing to think we could be God’s partner. It’s much better
to do what comes naturally.”
That’s how it was with Israel in the era of Hosea.
Like all the true prophets he cried out against the
unfaithfulness of the Hebrew people. They had become like adulterers and
harlots. They chased other fashions and other gods. He knew how hurt and frustrated
God must feel. And what drastic steps God might need to take.
Hosea believed that God would severely discipline
his people.
Israel must certainly suffer for playing the harlot
in the sight of the nations. Repeatedly he poured out his frustration at the
brazen infidelity of a people had been called to be the agents of God’s light
in all the world.
Nevertheless hope did not die.
Maybe, just maybe, God still loved Israel in spite
of her wilfulness? Perhaps there was still hope for redemption? Anger was mixed
with love?
Hosea does seem to understand.
In a wonderful passage (chapter 10, which is to be
read next Sunday) Hosea changes the metaphor from marriage to that of a
relationship between a mother and wilful child. He thinks of God as a loving
mother, who fed the child at her breast, cradled it in her arms, taught it to
walk, but now sees it set on its own wilful ways. Such love cries out in anguish:
How can I give you up, O Ephraim!
How can I hand you over, O Israel!
REDEEMING LOVE
The comes another remarkable turn of
events.
Hosea felt impelled by God to go and look for Gomer. You will find the incident in Chapter 3. He went out to find and recover his fickle
and degraded wife.
Evidently Gomer had sunk
low.
She had become the sex slave of another man.
Literally a slave; owned by this fellow. If Hosea wanted her back he would have
to buy her. We are told that Hosea bought her for 15 shekels and a measure of
barely. Half price in fact, so low had Gomer’s market
value fallen. Thirty shekels was the usual price of a slave. Gomer was redeemed for 15 shekels along with some measures
of grain.
Hosea took this slave woman of depreciated value
back home.
He installed her once more as the mistress of his
household. His God believed in redeeming love. Hosea sought to be like God, and
to some degree he certainly was.
THE LOVE OF THE REDEEMER
In a beautiful way, this love of Hosea foreshadows
the love of God.
That exquisitely painful
love which would be shown in its ultimate fullness when Jesus of Nazareth came
amongst us, full of truth and grace.
Hosea believed that God would never give people up.
They would not be left to rot in their own folly and
rebellion. God’s love would do at least as much as Hosea felt impelled to do
for Gomer.
God’s love did not ever end for the human race.
Nor for his servant Israel. The covenant of God with
humanity will never be discarded from God’s side of reality. Christ Jesus came
to make that certain, and to be the enduring witness to the new marriage of grace..
STAKE YOU LIFE ON IT
So Hosea was right. God will not give us up.
Not now. Not ever. Christ Jesus crucified, testifies
to this unbreakable covenant of love. God is committed to the astounding
mismatch. By redeeming grace, we become God’s partners once more. Hosea
believed in redemption. He gained that insight from his God.
Bless you, Hosea, for preparing us for Christ!
We are redeemable.
No matter how often we fail through foolishness, not
matter how many times we fail through wilfulness, God does not wipe his hands
of any of us. We, the fools and rebels who prostitute
our gifts and energies to many other masters, have a God who comes looking for
us in the dark places. God comes calling our name ,
not to treat us like dirt and condemn us, but to reclaim us as soul mates. Even if it costs God everything.
That is the Gospel. That is the amazing truth. Bet
your shirt on it! Go for broke on it! Stake your life on it!
The God of Christ Jesus is “ever faithful, ever
sure.”
PRAYER: GIVING THANKS TO GOD
We give thanks to our God, not because it a duty,
but because it is our privilege and joy.
Let us pray.
For earth, sea and sky, and all that lives in them: Giver
of life we thank you.
For the long story of the human race, for its hunger
of things divine, for your help when it wandered into trouble: Giver of life we thank you
For law makers who limited
in injustice, prophets who spoke your hard truth, poets who psalmed
your praises, and peacemakers who resolved conflicts: Giver of life we thank you.
For Christ Jesus, completely one with us yet
completely one with you; who lived with us, died for us, and rose as the first
fruit of a mighty harvest. Giver of life
we thank you.
For the intimacy of your Holy Spirit, forming and
constantly reforming your church, fostering the word and way of Jesus until
this very hour: Giver of life we thank
you.
God most generous, God most wonderful, glory be to
you in the church, through all creation, and in the highest heaven. Now and always.
Amen!
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE
There are millions of God’s children in dire need,
this very day.
Let us pray
for some of them.
God our most holy Friend, we pour out our hearts to
you for this world, for all its people with many and
changing needs.
We yearn for violence to cease, and for justice and
peace to become real in every community.
We desire poverty and homelessness to be abolished
and disease to be eradicated.,
We feel for all the unemployed and all who work in
degrading professions.
We covet a society where the youth are not corrupted
and the elderly not neglected.
We want the resources of the land
sea and air to be used more prudently, so that our grandchildren, and
theirs, may have a good inheritance.
We long for an Australian nation that takes a lead
rather than mimic the faults of larger and more powerful nations.
Holy friend, especially help each of us to respect
and cherish every person, both in the church and in the secular community. Make
us flag bearers for your new world of integrity, hope, faith, compassion and
joy.
Through Jesus Christ our
Redeemer.
Amen!
STEPPING OUT WITH GOD
Go out into the world in peace and love.
If you want to be more high
Spirited:
ask and you will receive,
seek and you will find,
knock and the doors will open.
Ask not for challenges to match your wisdom
but for wisdom to match the
challenges
In the name of the Three Person’d God, I bless you.
More saving grace than you can contain,
more providential love than you can measure,
more friendship than you can ever fully explore,
will be with you now and ever
more.
Amen!
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