Genesis 18: 20-32 + Colossians 2: 12-14 + Luke 11: 1-13

July 24, 2022

How low will Abe go in interceding for the innocent people
living in Sodom and Gomorrah?
Abraham seems shameless as he haggles with the almighty God
for the lives not only of his nephew Lot and his family, who live in Sodom,
but all the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It is this kind of boldness, this kind of pushing the envelope,
which Jesus encourages in his little parable on prayer
that is attached to the Our Father in Luke’s Gospel.
Going to a friend at midnight to intercede for a hungry friend recently arrived
on a journey—that is pushing the envelope.
Shamelessly waking that friend up in the middle of the night and not leaving till receiving the food needed for a hungry friend---that’s hospitality practiced to the extreme.

The Greek word “anaideia,” which is translated as “persistence” in this little parable,
is actually more accurately translated as “shamelessness.”
Begging in this way exhibits a trust that God will act,
and it is precisely when God’s mercy appears.

For unlike a human father, our heavenly Father sees no shame
in our humble and even mundane requests. 
We think surely with all the suffering in the world that our little petitions
on behalf of our friends or family members in need would go unheeded,
but as we approach the Father of all in boldness,
we find that He cares about us and our loved ones. 
In fact, even when a human father fails to give his child what they need,
our heavenly Father can do no such thing. 
So we ask, trusting that we will receive; we seek, assured that we will find;
we knock, knowing that the door to the Father’s heart will be open to our cry.

Note that both examples of bold, shameless prayer in today’s Scriptures
is a particular type of prayer---intercessory prayer.
It is always good to persevere in this particular kind of prayer on behalf of another.
To be bold in asking for help for another.
To know that our Heavenly Father cares about these requests.

When Jesus teaches us, his disciples, to pray,
he gives us more than a set of words or a technique.
What Jesus gives is not a formula or a special instruction to pray this way,
but instead he gives us an example of how to pray.

This example of Jesus, as revealed in the “Our Father” and in his life,
is a relationship with the Father that is built on simple, childlike trust.
The Aramaic word for “Father,” which is “Abba,” speaks of the trust of a little child
in the protection and providence of his or her father.
In the desert for 40 days, on the journey up to Jerusalem, hanging from a cross on Golgotha, Jesus sets the example of how to relate to God the Father with persistent trust.

Jesus also invites us to enter with Him into this relationship with God as a beloved child. 
Thus, he not only teaches us to persevere with boldness in our prayer to God,
he not only sets the example, but joined to Him, we find the strength to persevere.
With Jesus, we can persevere in this daily relationship with our Heavenly Father
no matter how things are going.
We pray the prayer Jesus gives us in order to be bold in knowing that His Father and ours will give us only the best gifts, the gifts most needed.

The best blessing that the Father longs to give us with the help of the Son
is the great gift of the Holy Spirit.
Only in Luke’s Gospel does Jesus’ instruction on prayer end with the statement
that the “reward” for perseverance in prayer, for boldness, is the gift of the Holy Spirit.
That our daily asking and seeking and knocking opens us up to receive
the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, the Spirit of the Risen Christ,
the Spirit who empowers us to cry out “Abba, Father”,
the Spirit who emboldens us to pray when we know not what to say.


This quality of a disciple—perseverance—springs forth from the life-giving waters
of the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit empowers us to persevere in this journey up to Jerusalem with Jesus, sustaining us through all temptations, trials, and fears.
We who ask Jesus to teach us to pray are seeking the one thing necessary
to keep us on this challenging journey of discipleship--that is the Holy Spirit. 
This is the best gift the Father can give us through the Son—
the gift of the Spirit which holds them in communion. 

For the Holy Spirit constantly upholds our natural weakness with his divine strength, uttering our most authentic desires which we barely know we have,
the desires of Jesus in us His Body.
The Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and is sent to us by Jesus himself,
is nothing less than the love between the Father and Son---their “communion.”

Our prayer can seem like such a poor thing, can seem so unsuccessful.
But we do not see the reality!  Our prayer is one with the Communion of Love
between Jesus and the Father, which is the Holy Spirit.
So, when we become discouraged in our faith journey, when we are tempted to give up and give in, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us persevere in loving God and neighbor.
The Holy Spirit is the Gift which helps the disciple and the Church persevere in prayer, remain faithful to Jesus’ teaching, and live as children of our Heavenly Father.

When we pray, we are not trying to change God’s mind or open God’s heart.
God is constantly aware at every second of our plight and longing to respond to our need.
What changes when we pray is us.  
We are changed by persevering in our relationship with the Lord Jesus,
so that we become more open to receive even more fully
the Great Gift of the Holy Spirit.

When we persevere in our relationship with the beloved Son of God,
we are better able by his gift of the Spirit to surrender our lives into the Father’s hands
in complete abandon and confident trust.
Our God-given identity as beloved sons and daughters is strengthened
so that we can live from that rock-solid identity.

We can then persevere in loving the unlovable, in forgiving the unforgivable,
in bolding begging for a friend who is hungering for God’s help and God’s love.
We can then be an instrument of God’s fruitful Spirit and produce the best of fruits
for a hungry world:   love and joy and peace, kindness and generosity and gentleness.

As we daily persevere in our relationship with Jesus and stay close to Jesus
on this journey of faith, His Spirit helps us to see what God sees
and hear what God hears.
To see the suffering of God’s children, to hear the cries of God’s hurting children,
and then with the help of the Spirt to respond with boldness to their need.