TEACH US TO PRAY: THE REQUEST THAT UNVEILED GOD’S NATURE

HOMILY FOR THE 17^TH SUNDAY OF THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

 

Rev. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

One of the distinctive marks of every religious community is to possess its own specific form of prayer. In the Jewish setting, it was the regular custom for every rabbi to teach his disciples a simple form of prayer which they might habitually use. This ancient practice is still noticed today. Many Religious Congregations and Communities of Consecrated Life today have their forms of prayer for which their society is known for; for instance, ‘we adore you’ of Franciscans, ‘Jesus, I love you’ of Elele adoration group, etc. Even most families have developed a unique form of prayer. The fore-runner of Jesus (John) did the same and taught his disciples how to pray. It was in such background that we chiefly grasp the request one of the disciples (name not mentioned by Luke) made to Jesus. 

In the Gospel of today (Luke 11:1-13), one of the disciples of Jesus went to him and made a request: Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples.  Upon this request, Jesus immediately responded without delay or any in-between conversation. This tells us how this request is important for Jesus. In the Lucan presentation of this prayer Jesus taught his disciples, there are five petitions. However, the five petitions begin with a title: Father. Addressing God as a Father exposes His omnipotent, gracious, provident, forgiving, and protecting nature; which are reflected in the five petitions.

God’s omnipotent nature is evident in Petition 1: hallowed be your name. Here, we pray that the ever-present danger of apostasy be far from us, and that all the evils which defile God’s creation be removed, especially those in our hearts, so that the gracious nature of His being will be made manifest in us.

God’s gracious nature is evident in Petition 2: Your Kingdom come. Here, we pray that the unity, equality and love known as the foundations of God’s kingdom may be felt in the human society; in such a way that the boundaries that exist between the rich and the poor, men and women, saints and sinners, Jews and Gentiles may be replaced by unity, equality and love, so that God’s provident nature is felt by all.

God’s provident nature is evident in Petition 3: Give us this day our daily bread. Here, we pray for divine sustenance for our material need as well as spiritual need. Bread here must not be interpreted as merely food, which quenches material hunger, but must encompass the character of sharing with others (sinners included) at meals of reconciliation (the Eucharist) where-in the spiritual hunger is taken care of, so that God’s forgiving nature is palpably felt by all.

God’s forgiving (merciful) nature is evident in Petition 4: Forgive us our sins, for we too forgive every one indebted to us. Here, we pray for divine pardon for the many offences we have committed against Him. Here, condition is attached. To be able to feel this merciful nature of God, Christ’s followers must forgive others who wrong them. the best of us is a sinful person coming before the purity of God. Hence, Christians who are adamant in forgiving others do not have a proper view of God, who is merciful to all. It is with a forgiving spirit that we can plead more based on the protecting nature of God.

God’s protecting (guarding) nature is evident in Petition 5: lead us not into temptation. In Luke, temptation is seen as something bad, having no positive outcome (e.g strengthening of character). Here, we pray that God preserves us from anything that endangers our faith, or that tries to draw us away from practicing our Christian life (e.g. poverty, anger, slot, avarice, etc). Temptation includes far more than seduction to sin; it covers every situation which is a challenge to our spiritual integrity and fidelity. Yes, we may not escape it, but we can meet it with God.

ASK, AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE...

Jesus further made the disciples to believe in the fatherhood of God by telling them the parable of the determined borrower. This is to teach us that if hardened men can answer their fellows when they persist, and if men who are evil know how to supply their children’s needs, what more of God who is a loving Father? That is why he enjoins us to ask, to seek and to knock. Ask, and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened up to you. God wants us to trust him and to believe that He is a Father and capable of caring for His children.

In the First Reading (Gen. 18:20-32), Abraham asked and got answers. Abraham showed this concern by pleading for the town of Sodom and Gomorrah who had rejected God by the evil ways and deeds. In the conversation Abraham had with the two men (angels in Gen. 19:1) who had gone to investigate Sodom and Gomorrah by God, the merciful nature of God was recurrent as He has the mind of sparing the people is at least ten were faithful to him. The bone of contention was: will you destroy the righteous with the wicked. Abraham dares to bargain to the point that only 10 righteous suffice to avert destruction. Ten became the natural limit in Abraham’s questioning; below that number, God can save the individuals within the city as will happen with Lot. Yes, God is merciful, but this merciful nature must be understood alongside his just nature. He demands our fidelity to his will, and concern for one another. No one should take His mercy for granted. That is why our effort in righteousness is needed even as we plead. Abraham was able to quest because he has done something good and has been righteous by God. Holiness attracts God and aids our relationship with Him.

Abraham is not the Christ. That is why he had his limitation to save the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. If he were to be Christ, even when all are sinners, God would have pardoned them. The Second Reading (Col. 2:12-14) stated it clearly that Christ is the one that brought us to life having forgiven us all our sins and having nailed every embarrassments and disappointments we have exhibited against God on the cross; to such an extent that the cross becomes now the source of our liberation. Hence, for the sake of Christ, we are forgiven; no longer for the sake of 50, 45, 40, 30, 20 or even 10. His blood pleads more insistently than Abel’s.

Jesus is the answer. He alone can teach us how to pray. He alone can lead us to the Father. Read your Bibles and follow His teachings on prayer. Never be deceived by some forms of ostentatious prayer experienced today. Satan called a worldwide convention. In his opening address to his demons, he said: we cannot keep the Christians from going to Church, reading their Bibles and praying to their God so as to form an intimate relationship experience in Christ. the much we can do is to distract them, keep them busy with the non-essentials of life, and invent varied ways of praying that are not what their Saviour taught them, so that they might not discover whom their all-powerful God actually is. With that, their will be confusion in their fold. They may think that they are praying as they get busy with noisy instruments, technological advancements and theatrical performances. Is this diabolical meeting been felt today? Lord Jesus, teach us how to pray.

When we pray, we must recognize the five components enumerated and must be aware that it is not the length of our prayer or its verbosity that guarantees its answerability, but our Christ-connectedness and our fidelity to the commandments of God. I wish us a blessed week ahead as we merge our prayer life with concern for one another. God bless you.