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In 1972, I was a newly licensed \u2018Reverend\u2019, hired for the summer to be an interim minister, while a church outside of Detroit started to search for a new pastor. A few days after I started, I was asked to visit a member in the hospital. The man was dying, the family was gathered. It was my first hospital call and as I stood there, I felt out of place; I had no idea what to do. Finally, one of the family members said, \u201cReverend, could you do a little prayer.\u201d And I did. It\u2019s more than fifty years since that first hospital visit and what I\u2019d discover as I went on was that people always asked for a little prayer; in all that time, no one has ever asked for a big prayer, even though I\u2019ve been asked to pray for big things. Today, we heard the disciples of Jesus ask him to teach them to pray, and I want to think with you this morning about what it means to pray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s start with what we heard from Genesis. Isn\u2019t this the most ideal setting for prayer? Abraham is talking to the Lord like you\u2019d talk to your boss. Just before this, God appeared to Abraham and Sarah. They\u2019re senior citizens; the days when they left You\u2019re on the promise that God would provide children and a place are long gone. Like any couple, I suppose they\u2019ve adjusted, had some hard times, but overcome them, settled into a life. Now God comes and, even though Sarah is long past child bearing, blandly tells them that she\u2019s going to have a child before the spring. Incredible! Amazing! Ridiculous! So ridiculous that Sarah laughs at God, though later she denies it. In that deep wisdom of women, I suspect she\u2019s thinking, \u201cIt may be God, but God doesn\u2019t know much about women and babies.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re told that after this, the men look toward Sodom on the horizon. Now because of a misunderstanding about Sodom, it\u2019s important to say as soon as we mention it, that the sin of Sodom has nothing to do with sexuality, gay or straight. The sin of Sodom is violently treating people who aren\u2019t citizens. It\u2019s the violation of hospitality that stains Sodom, and God is angry about it. \u201cHow great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin,\u201d God says. And then we have this sort of prayer; after all, any conversation with God is a prayer. I\u2019ve always loved this prayer, this conversation, where Abraham changes God\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lord is about to destroy Sodom. Abraham asks, \u201cWhat if there are 50 righteous men in the city?\u201d God agrees it would be wrong to destroy the city if there are 50 righteous men; Abraham argues and finally gets God down to ten; ten righteous men are enough to save the city, it turns out. This tradition continues today: ten men are called a minyan, the minimum number required for a synagogue to hold worship. Isn\u2019t this an ideal image of prayer? God is right there; Abraham argues, God relents, and finally agrees to what Abraham asks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wow. I wish my prayer life was like that, don\u2019t you? Hey God, look, I don\u2019t like your idea about what to do about\u2026fill in whatever is annoying you. How about changing that? Hey God, I have this problem, could you solve it please? Hey God, my friend is sick, could you heal her please? Annie LaMott says there are really only two prayers: \u201cHelp me Help me Help me\u201d and \u201cThank you, thank you, thank you\u201d. I guess those qualify as little prayers, and I know I\u2019ve prayed both of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we want more than a little prayer, we often turn to written prayers. My first job in a church was writing a prayer of invocation for each Sunday; I was 16 and fortunately none of those prayers survive. In the same way, Jewish people have and had prayers commonly said. The Caddish is a prayer offered at times of mourning but also in the regular synagogue service, dating back to the time of Jesus. It begins,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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