If I only knew how to pray....

I hope you are not looking for some magic formula - just the right words or tone of voice, the most appropriate quoting of scripture or maybe some fancy phrases like the pastor uses.  I pray that you are not seeking some precise balance of piety and boldness so that God will do what you want God to do.

Because if you are, I don't have it.  Never have; never will.  I do know that you can meditate in silence or sing your praises to God.  You can gather with the whole community or carve out a few moments during your morning commute.  You can include religious words or simply cry out with moaning and groaning too deep for words. 

You can stand up, lie down, sit in your pew, kneel at the altar, walk in the woods, drive in your car,  raise your hands while you're at it.  Many prayers have ascended during football games, before Math tests, on icy roads and after crushing medical diagnoses.  You can use English, Greek, Hebrew, Russian, Spanish and even gibberish.  God's ear is turned towards and tuned into creation's cries.

But if your heart is wandering in the land of lust or greed or anger or just plain selfishness you're going to have a hard time of it all because it is the heart that speaks most clearly to our God.  This you know:  the God who graciously gives us all, wants us to grow into just such gracious giving people.  Because God is gracious, we are free to ask, seek and knock any time we want and with a whole lot of silliness in the mix. 

This I do know.  The more you pray, the deeper, stronger, and richer your life in Christ grows.  Use up your iphone minutes in conversation with God and before you know it, your eyes and your heart will be opened.  So we ask, just as the disciples did long ago,"Lord teach us to pray."

What do people want?

What questions are people asking?

As a teacher I learned that until I answer the question that YOU have, you have a difficult time listening to what I am saying.  You get stuck on that question; it becomes a block to further enlightenment.  Once it's answered you can go again.

I remember a cartoon from a long time ago where one character was carrying a sign which said 'Jesus is the answer.'  In the next frame, another character has a sign which reads, 'What was the question?'

So it is important to answer the questions that folks are asking, which has a great deal with what folks truly want.  I made a list:  folks want life to be a little easier, to have their struggles have some meaning or purpose, to have their suffering acknowledged or mourned or at least to have someone walk with them through it all.   People would like good to be rewarded and evil punished.  People want to both be loved and feel loved.  They would like to be blessed (however they might define that). *

All of this is background to Sunday's gospel reading (Mark 8.27-33) which is a pivotal text in Mark's telling of the gospel story.  It begins with Jesus asking, "Who do people say that I am?"

It is important for people to understand what they are looking for when they turn to Jesus and call him Lord, or Son of God, or Savior.  In this text, Jesus makes it abundantly clear that his definition of Messiah, Anointed One, includes more than just healing and teaching and extra bread.  It includes suffering, rejection and a cross. 

If you are looking for daisies and roses, then this Jesus just won't do.  It is best to get that straight right up front, because from this point on, the pressure is on and the cross is on the horizon.


*When I consider folks who seem to embody evil, who do horrific things to one another, I wonder if a list like the one above is too 'pollyanna'. Do these folks want the same things? How do these folks end up consumed by such a destructive force that they are dangerous to themselves and others? Have these folks been so crushed by this world that they can only crush it back?