Ever since the disciples said, "Lord, teach us to pray," Christians have been concerned with the life of prayer. Certainly any attempt to understand the Christian life has to concern itself with prayer. People have all sorts of questions about prayer. What does it mean to pray? How do I know if I am really praying?  What happens when I can’t pray?  Why should I pray? When? How often? And the big one, does God answer prayer?

Yet it always seems to me that our concern over prayer should focus, not on how to pray but about being a person of prayer. The early church is described in Scripture as "being of one heart and mind" in prayer.  It is a matter of putting aside our apprehensions about whether we are "doing it right" and becoming a praying community.

The gospel passage recalls Jesus’ regular practice of prayer. It was a vital part of his life. It should be a vital part of our lives. Celtic prayer, which is at the root of Anglican tradition, made every occasion of life a time of prayer. There were prayers for every task of the day from milking the cow to sweeping out the hearth. Every phase of the day from getting up in the morning to going to bed at night was an opportunity to offer thanks to God. 

Are there occasions in our lives that call for prayer?  Instead of cursing at a driver who cuts us off can we offer up an intercession for someone in need?  When we are waiting in a long line at the Supermarket can it be an occasion to thank God for the blessings of life?  As we prepare a meal, as we go through the tasks of life are we attentive to God’s loving care of us?  Then prayer becomes not merely something to be learned and rattled off, but a way of living.

That is what Jesus offers in the Gospel for today. He explains prayer to the disciples as a way of understanding the power of prayer at work in their lives. "Ask, and it will be given you," he tells them. That may seem a very materialistic thing for Jesus to suggest.  But God does not call most of us to a life of poverty.  Possessions are not wrong.  We need to have an attitude that values, enjoys but at the same time acknowledges that what we have comes from God.  Material things are symbols that reveal the goodness of our creator.  When we pray "give us each day our daily bread" we are renewing and reaffirming our relationship with God.  We are acknowledging that our lives are sustained by all that God provides.

Jesus teaches the disciples to pray for forgiveness.  "Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us." Forgiveness is about the building of relationships.  We cannot feel forgiven if we are not in return forgiving people.  This is not a statement about the conditions under which God forgives.  It is in God’s nature to forgive. What it does is to recognize that if we cannot or will not forgive we may not be able to experience the grace of God’s liberating forgiveness.

In prayer we ask for what we need. We ask, not because God has some sort of ‘money-back’ guarantee. Nor is it about getting the pink Cadillac you have always wanted. We ask knowing that God hears our prayers. We pray with a sense of assurance knowing that the gift of the Holy Spirit is a promise that God will keep.

"Search, and you will find," Jesus goes on in his message to the disciples. He knows that prayer is the process through which we find God.  It is the way in which we come to know God.  Prayer is at the heart of life itself. Through prayer we reach beyond ourselves. We come to know God not just as a concept or a philosophical idea. We come into relationship with God.

It is in prayer that we explore that relationship. We come to know God with the same sense of intimacy with which Jesus spoke to God. "When you pray," he said to the disciples, "say ‘Our Father'." When we hear Jesus calling God ‘Father’ in that loving way it speaks to us of an intimate and personal relationship. That said, it must be acknowledged that for those who have been abused by a parent it may be a painful image. Even though it seems to offend people when we explore images of God that are not the traditional ones, we should not be afraid to experiment in prayer with images of God that speak to us of intimacy.  Such images may open up new ways of coming into relationship with a loving and caring God who wants to be in relationship with each one of us.

The wonderful thing about prayer is that if we are truly seeking God, if we are knocking, then God will find us.  That is what it means to have our prayers answered.  Prayer opens the door in our relationship with God.  Our seeking of God in prayer gives us an awareness of God's presence.  It opens us up to the working of God's grace in our lives.

Human nature being what it is, we knock most often when times are difficult.  So Jesus says to the disciples, "When you pray, say ‘do not bring us to the time of trial’." Yet we know that being a Christian does not mean an end to suffering. Our world is fraught with times of difficulty. We live in an age of violence and distrust. Through prayer we gain the strength and will to face all of life's trials. We experience the presence of God in our daily lives.

Does God answer prayer?  We are called to pray in loving expectation for the responsive word of God to rise in our hearts.  As I reflect I think of three ways in which God responds to our prayers.  All are wonderful gifts. The first gift is the surprise we had not even considered asking for, but which delights us. God often gives us such surprise gifts, a rainbow in the sky, a beautiful sunset, a kind glance from a friend, a smile from a stranger. It may come in a glance from a friend. 

The second gift is just what we wanted. Sometimes God gives us what we want and pray for.  Haven’t we all said, “That was an answer to prayer”?  When that happens everything about it smacks of God.  It happens at just the right time.  It cannot be a coincidence.  It has to be God at work, a God-incidence.

The third gift is not at all what we wanted, but something that becomes more valuable as we live with it. God may not respond to our prayers as we wish.  We may hear God's call through a word heard in passing.  Often with time we begin to value and understand God's response. Sometimes we do not.  In whatever way God succeeds in reaching into our hearts, we may hear the voice of God.  That gift of grace, that powerful love brings us to the feet of Jesus. There we sit quietly with him enjoying his company, knowing that God loves us and loving us cannot help but answer our prayer.

It begins with asking, not once in a while, but constantly and persistently, like the man in the story that Jesus tells.  A friend has arrived unexpectedly on his doorstep.  He has nothing to feed him.  He wants his neighbour to give him some of tomorrow’s fresh bread.  The family has retired for the night.  The gate is locked.  It causes no small interruption.  It is stretching friendship a bit far.  Hospitality is important enough that the man will get up, perhaps reluctantly, to respond to the request. 

Jesus is pointing out a truth about prayer.  The answer to prayer comes about not because we get the words just right.  It is not about being in the right place to enter into prayer.  It is about being persistent in prayer.  It is about building a relationship with God that includes prayer.  It is about making it a part of our lives that is as natural to us as breathing.  So let us be persistent in prayer.  Let us not wait for the right words.  Let us simply open ourselves up to God in prayer.  God will do the rest.