God will hear your prayer

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Well the time has come for every Vicar to preach his last sermon here at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church. If you have not guess it yet, today at this very moment I am preaching to you my last sermon here at this church. This very church is where I now can call a home and in which I now can call my family. It is through this church that I have learned a lot during my vicarage year. A lot of you have heard me say some point in this year that every one of you has been my teacher. I have experience a lot on my vicarage and have seen a lot. There has been a lot of interesting things that have gone right here at Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Hartford.

Now most people would say, well that’s because you have a great Pastor, or others would say that’s because you all never gave up the fight. Yet during the tough times this year, we would never gave up, we could have. We could have given up or tried other things but we did not. Some people would have told us to give up and that we were not meant for this. However we did not listen to them. We put God first. We went to God in those times of need. It was God who helps us here at Saint Paul’s. The one thing I notice here at Saint Paul’s is that this church prays. Every Sunday during worship we pray, every meeting we pray and no matter what activity we do together we pray.

Some people could come up to you and ask ‘what is so special about praying?’ Why do you Christians do it? What is the point? The one response I have heard the most about praying is ‘does God really hear your prayer?’ This is a society where things are given to those who ask, pay or work for it and they shall receive in a heart beat. However this goes beyond our society because it is not society but our sinful side. Our sinful nature expects God to answer our prayers when we want Him to. God is on our time schedule and not His. That God should answer our prayers when we want him too. When we think like that it is because of our Sin. Sin wants to put God on the same level as us.

There is always sin in our lives. With sin, our prayers to the Lord will get interrupted. A friend of mine told me a great saying for this. It is like a cell phone reception between two people and the reception goes in and out. That is like our prayers. Sin loves to interrupt our prayers. There will always be sin in our lives until God calls each one of us up to Him. Without sin, we would just praise God all the time. However, we do have sin in our lives. Even with sin, there is something that you receive and that is forgiveness. God forgives each one of you because He sent His son, Jesus, to the cross. The cross took all our sufferings are placed upon. God could have let us suffer in our sins but then He would not be our God. He does not want any of us to suffer in our sin. Forgiven of our sins, we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." The Holy Spirit helps us to pray to God. The Holy Spirit helps our prayers be heard by God without sin interrupting it.

Then God answers our prayers not because we are persistent, show the most faith, do the most things at church but because He wants too. He answers our prayers because He cares for each one of you. He answers our prayers because we continue to pray in Jesus name. John 14:13-14 "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."

Do not be fooled into believing that God will not want to answer your prayers because you are not a true believer. Do not be fooled that your offerings are not enough and that you should pay more for God to listen. There are some religious leaders out there saying that more needs to be done from the person and not from God. Do not believe their words. In our Gospel lesson, not once did Jesus say you need to pay or show an amount faith to have your answers your prayers. There is no fine print saying ‘I’m sorry you do not have enough points to qualify for this kind of prayer.’ There is no fine print to praying. Jesus tells us in John 16:23 "In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." It is God’s will to answer our prayers and on His time. Luke 22:42 Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done."

If you need an example on how to pray, then look to Jesus. If you need an example of why we should pray and how we should pray look to Jesus. Luke tells us that Jesus was praying in a certain place. Why would Jesus have to pray? Jesus prayed because He wanted too. Psalm 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Jesus was the Son of David and David loved to pray. We can see that in his Psalms. Another example of David praying is Psalm 6:9 "The Lord has heard my plea; the Lord accepts my prayer."

This was not the first time Jesus prayed. Luke shows Jesus praying right after He was baptized Luke 3:21 "Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened. Jesus prayed right before He chooses the 12 disciples in Luke 6:12 "In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God." Not only that but during the Transfiguration in Luke 9:28 "Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray". There are other times when Jesus prayed to Heavenly Father. No matter when or where the place was, Jesus is found praying.

In our Gospel lesson today, the disciples had already seen Jesus pray to God numerous times. There is a saying "lead by example", well it is true. Jesus prayed and now the disciples were eager to learn about prayer. Jesus taught them how to pray to God and He teaches us how to pray to God. The Lord’s Prayer places God first before everything else. God is first and then asking God to provide help for us to be better Christians. All the major things needed in our lives. All this is done because we pray in His name. His name is Jesus and He died for all of us here today. If were not for Jesus death then it would be hard for us to pray. With his death and having faith in Him, we are able to pray.

His death on the cross also opens the door to God’s Word and love for us. Colossians 4:2"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word" Paul states the door is open for us to ask God in prayer. Christ’s death and resurrection promises us that the door will always stay open. God opens the door and welcomes us. He opens the door with no regret and welcomes each one of you. Jesus welcomed all to pray with him. We see that in our Gospel lesson. We can see how eager the disciples were to learn how to pray. "Lord teach us to pray." It is almost reminds me of a seminarian who so eager to become a Vicar. So eager to become a Vicar and yet not know how to be one. How do I that? How do I this? Again Jesus taught them how to pray, just as Saint Paul’s has taught me to become a Vicar for the Lord.

I have learned that prayer works here at Saint Paul’s. There was a time during my year of vicarage where one of our brothers here had a serious injury. The first thing we did when we heard about the injury that night was to pray before we started our Wednesday night service. We continued to pray every Sunday during worship and during every meeting or group functioned. What have I learned here? Do not give up on prayer. It works. God cares too much and will never leave us hanging. He took care of the family and of our brother. During my year of vicarage we were worried about something big. It was the Budget. Nevertheless, He answered our prayers when we were having trouble with the budget. For my first 4 months here we constantly prayed that God would help and take care of our budget problems. At the last possible day of the year, God answered our prayers. He took care of our budget through all of you. What happens after that, God gives us numerous things to do now that He has taken that worry away.

There have been other serious injuries to certain members to our family and we prayed for them. God took care of them and watched over them. He took their burdens away from them. God answered our prayers with a great turn out for the Kenya Corn Mill. We were able to raise over 5000 with the help of God. We prayed for VBS. It turned out great and Vacation Bible School had at least 55 children and over 25 volunteers. This year we made an emphasis on the three missions of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church. We constantly pray for the World Mission, the National Mission, and the Local Mission. He has answered all those prayers, so does that mean that we should stop praying? By no means does that mean that we should stop praying. Continue to pray. Saint Paul tells us in Philippians 4:4-7 rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

How I rejoice knowing that Saint Paul’s will receive another of God’s Vicar in few weeks. Just as Christ continued to teach his disciples every step of their ministry, Saint Paul’s with the help of God will continue to teach future Vicars. God works through all of your actions in Christ. Nevertheless continue to pray and continue to teach others to pray to God who is always listening. In Jesus Name Amen.