A Lenten Awe-roebic Exercise: Pray (Preferably in Private)

We need more awe-robic exercise in our world.

We meet God daily in all we do and all we see.

All we have to do is to open ourselves to God's welcoming Presence.
When we do that, we have begun to pray.


So, here we are: now the fourth Sunday in Lent.

In just two weeks we will be remembering and celebrating Palm Sunday
Easter is now just three weeks away!

Of course, Christians have been remembering and celebrating the Resurrection – Easter – since day one.
It is the single most important event of our faith.
It is the defining moment – of our faith,
of our understanding of the world,
of our lives.

It was an event that was truly awe-inspiring to all those who experienced it.
It was awe-inspiring to all those were told of it, as well.
It was so awe-inspiring that grown men and women turned their lives around
and started living for a cause far grander than the empire,
and far more intimate than the family.

But, as Lily Tomlin noted, today, you and I seem to living a world that devalues inspiration,
and arouses little awe in us.
So, she concludes, and I agree with, we need more awe-robic exercise in our world.

And, so that really what we’re about here during these days of Lent, this time before Easter.
We are about promoting certain Lenten Practices, Awe-Robic exercises, really.

We began with the admonition to Take Time to Observe Lent.
We were encouraged to do like Jesus did,
take some 40 days to think about the big picture.
Spend 40 days to become more aware of the awe-someness of the world around us.
We were encouraged to start a daily awe-list – at the end of each to think back on what was truly awesome, to recount the awe-inspiring events of the day.

Last week, we heard about another Lenten Practice: Fasting.
Fasting can be a real eye opener – it was for Jesus,
it was for countless individuals throughout history,
and it is for many people today.
But, we discovered that what we think of as fasting is not the same as what God sees as important.
It is when we fast as God instructs us, that our eyes are opened in new ways as awe events literally explode before us.

And so, today, we hear about another Lenten Practice: Pray (Preferably In Private).

James wrote:
The prayer of a good person has a powerful affect.
The Apostle Paul left us a clue when he said: Pray Unceasingly.
Jesus gave specific instruction:
When you pray, do not be ostentatious, like the hypocrites!
Do it in private and don't use a lot of meaningless words.
(God already knows what you need before you ask.)
If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.

Maybe you saw the cartoon in the funny papers:
Two little kids were standing there in their pajamas beside their bed with a toy telephone between them.
One is instructing the other in the finer arts of saying their bedtime prayers.
He says: "Now, remember you don't have to worry about God being too busy when you call, because God has "Call Waiting".

And you don't have to worry about nobody being home, because God has "Call Forwarding".

And remember, it's always a Toll Free Call.

And God never puts anyone "On Hold."

Don't hang up, your call will be answered in the order in which it is received.

And Operators are standing by ready for your call."

And that's about it, isn't it?

Again, James proclaims, what most of you in this room know: The prayer of a good person has a powerful affect.

Over 6000 scientific studies have been published in the last ten years!

Over half of these studies show under laboratory-controlled conditions, prayer does something truly remarkable. My file of references gets thicker every year!

While the belief that prayer heals is older than recorded history, you should know about some of this very recent research.
I have talked about some of these studies before, but just a few months ago, Time Magazine had cover stories on the power of faith to heal.

Universities all over the country – and all over the world – are devoting major efforts to document what people of faith have believed for years and years.
The University of Pennsylvania has a whole department dedicated to the study of Spirituality and the Mind.

Of particular interest to me is the discovery that it can be demonstrated that prayer actually invokes changes the brain – and some of these changes can be permanent.
Prayer actually improves memory – Time Magazine, February 23, 2009, Dr. Andrew Newberg, How God Changes Your Brain.

One study at the University of Virginia, showed that orthopedic patients in the hospital that were visited by chaplains needed less medical care than those that weren't visited by chaplains.
They made fewer calls to the nurse for help,
they got out of the hospital an average of two days earlier than those who didn't receive spiritual support,
And they needed much much less pain medication, than those who never saw a chaplain.

Another study was done among coronary patients in a VA hospital near Boston.
Patients were undergoing care for heart attack and chronic heart disease, and endured bypass operations, valve replacements, and open heart surgery.
An experimental group was selected randomly to receive daily visits from a chaplain.
The other group received less frequent visits, or none at all.
Again, those who received regular care from a pastor, went home one or two days sooner than those who did not.
Now, the VA attached some dollars and sense to this study, and concluded that providing a chaplain visit for a patient cost no more than $100 a day, and resulted in savings as much as $4000 a day.
Total savings from a robust and prayerful chaplain's program could amount to several million dollars a year for each hospital.

Another study was done at a hospital in San Francisco (General Hospital) of people who were admitted to the coronary care unit suffering congestive heart failure, heart attack, low blood pressure and other heart problems.

Half of these patients were assigned to a group of regular churchgoers who were asked to pray regularly for the health and recovery of the patients – whom they never met.

None of the patients, none of the doctors, none of the nurses, knew they were on anyone's prayer list. And what they found out was startling:

● The patients that were prayed for were far less likely to require antibiotics – they had fewer infections from their surgery.

● None of those who were being prayed for needed help with breathing while a dozen of the patients who were not prayed for required mechanical breathing support following the surgery,

● and (Fewer of those chosen for prayer died – but the difference wasn't statistically significant.)

The results of this study caused quite a stir when they were published in the Southern Medical Journal.
One physician at the time wrote: "Maybe we doctors ought to be writing on our order sheets, 'Pray three times a day.'"

I am sure that if this study went one step further, and told the patients they were being prayed for, the results would have been even more dramatic.
As some of you know from your experience, there is something invigorating knowing that you are being prayed for.
Knowing that you are connected to a network of prayers is buoying to your soul – and it brings peace and confidence.

Prayer works.

The prayer of a good person has a powerful affect.

Measurements show that a hospital visit by a pastor reduces stress hormones, produces a calming effect, and stimulates the production of endorphins in the patient.

Now, understand what is being said here.
Bad things happen to good people.
Good people get ill.
Bodies wear out.
Good people die.
But, prayer lets you face your illness squarely, actually producing a strength in your body and psyche to face your situation and get through it.
Prayer prepares you for what is to come.

The prayer of a good person has a powerful affect.

It may not change the situation we find ourselves in and it may not give us the miracle we want,
but what happens is, prayer changes us.
As one writer put it well, "Through prayer, we find inner resources of strength and hope and courage we didn't know we had.

Through prayer we are no longer facing our fears and pains alone;
God is there beside us,
renewing our spirit,
restoring our soul,
and helping us carry the burden when it becomes too heavy for us to bear."

Prayer has a powerful affect:
on our bodies, on our minds, on our lives.

To really clue in, to really experience change,
to really know what prayer can do for us, Paul tells us, to "Pray unceasingly."

But, what does that mean?

Standing at a prayer wall all day from morning to night?
Kneeling at the foot of the cross 24 hours a day?
Reciting a mantra over and over and over again?
No.
Pray unceasingly means to live in a state of prayerfulness.

Wherever you are,
whatever you are doing,
whatever is going on around you,
know that God is with you,
and is in conversation with you –
helping you through the events,
guiding the way,
providing strength and support you know you never had alone.

I’ve mentioned it before, and many people have no idea what I’m talking about, but I will try again:
In a very real way, my prayer mentor is Tevye.
Do you remember Fiddler on the Roof?
In this marvelous story, you remember the old man, the papa, Tevye, was constantly talking to God.
There was a comedic effect as he constantly was getting his Bible facts confused, but Tevye is depicted as being in constant prayer with the Almighty.
He prayed when he delivered his milk,
he prayed when his wife got on his nerves,
he prayed when he rejoiced with a daughter,
he prayed when he met people.

Prayer helped him get through the difficulties and tragedies and joys of his life.
O, for sure, God didn't "smite him with riches" as he jokingly talked to God about, but Tevye didn't really expect that to happen.

The point is: there was never a moment when Tevye did not know that God was with him.

Tevye was sure and certain of his relationship with God.
And Tevye gives clues to us as well.

There is an ancient parable that speaks to our situation.

There was a bunch of fish swimming in the sea.
And this rather young fish swam up to an older and wiser-looking fish and asked, "Excuse me, but I have heard of this wonderful place called the Ocean where all manner of living creatures and colorful things live?
I have decided to go there where life is much richer.
I have been searching everywhere.
But I can’t seem to find the way.
Can you help me?"

The older fish said, "Son, This is it! You're in the ocean now.
It doesn't get any better than this. This is the ocean."

The young fish put his nose up, and said, "Silly old man, what do you know.
This is only water. I'm looking for the ocean."
And off he swam to continue his search.

It takes a wise fish indeed to perceive the ocean in which it lives.
Not knowing a life outside the ocean, it is hard for it to see the environment in which it lives.
Like the fish, whose relationship with the ocean is a given, so is our relationship with God.

God surrounds us with love every moment of our life.

There is power in this love.
And there is a standing offer of friendship and communication on God's side.
All we have to do is risk believing in the offer and open ourselves to God's welcoming Presence. When we do that, we have begun to pray.

As Tevye did.

As James did.

As Paul did.

As Jesus did.

Prayer can take many forms – sometimes we attempt to communicate in a communal way, like we do here in church;
sometimes we attempt to communicate in a personal way behind closed doors;
sometimes we attempt to communicate in a traditional way by using words that have inspired people through the ages.

But, praying unceasingly means doing it right in the midst of our daily activities.
Whether we are writing a letter, playing golf,
talking with someone on the telephone,
bandaging a bruised knee,
or challenging an unjust policy,
we make it all prayerful by recognizing the presence of God with us in what we do,
when we do it, where we do it.

Our prayer can start from our work,
the important relationships of our lives,
the things we wonder at,
the restlessness and loneliness of our hearts,
our experiences of success and satisfaction,
a painful conversation, a recent gift of love.

We meet God daily in all we do and all we see.
Our prayer rises spontaneously in the presence of mountains or sea,
in park or woods,
at sunrise or sunset,
on fishing and camping trips,
at the sight of beautiful flowers, birds, animals, or persons.

Enjoying something fully – even something as basic as food, drink, a bath or shower, a hug, a nap – if it is done with an awareness of God – can be prayer.

When we understand this basic truth about prayer, few people can walk away un-awed by the relationship and the power that resides within that relationship.

That’s what prayer is.

And that’s why it is an important part of our Lenten Awe-Robic exercise program.

You won’t want to miss next week for part 5 of our Lenten Awe-Robic exercise program.
Amen.

This is a portion of a sermon delivered to the congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church, Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, on March 14, 2010, by the Reverend Clyde E. Griffith.