the 7th sunday after pentecost
the PRAYER …
Almighty and ever-living God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and you gladly give more than we either desire or deserve. Pour upon us your abundant mercy. Forgive us those things that weigh on our conscience, and give us those good things that come only through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.
the READING …
[And he said to them,] “Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give ….” luke 11:1-13
the DEVOTION …
Over the years, I’ve noticed something. The more we talk about ourselves, the less we talk about god. The more we focus on what we should or ought or must, the less we’re concerned about what god did and does and will do. And that’s especially true when it comes to prayer. The temptation is to make it all about us. Our asking. Our searching. Our knocking. Wearing god down. Wearing god out. Persistence, we call it. Tenacity. And god? Well, god, pretty much, has nothing to do with it.
It’s so different from what we Lutherans assume. What we look for and expect from prayer. In bondage to sin, we say. Unable to free ourselves, we believe. By our own strength, our own understanding, incapable and unable! And so, our life with god – our life with others – becomes something in god’s hands, not our own! For us, it’s a gift! It’s all a gift! Even prayer! Maybe especially prayer! “A good measure,” Luke calls it! “Pressed down! Shaken together! Running over! Dropped into our lap!” It’s not our persistence that counts; it’s god’s love! It’s ALWAYS AND FOREVER god’s love!