Mark 1:29-39

Mark 1:29-39&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; “Prayer Power”

Feb= . 8, 2009 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; By R= ev. Kathy McDowell

There is a familiar conversation that takes place in American culture.

It can happen when yo= u run into an old friend, a colleague from work,

someone from church, = a neighbor. It can happen at a party, at the g= rocery store,

or at a school meetin= g. It starts with a simple question:<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> “How are you?”

And the answer is alw= ays: “Busy!”

And then comes a lita= ny of busy-ness related to family, work, home, and more. Sometimes we even get i= nto “I’m busier than you competitions.”

From what I can tell = from these conversations, (in which I have participated too)

we’re all too busy.

And even if we’= re not very busy we have created technologies

that use up any spare= time we might have.

We try to stay connec= ted with our Blackberries, i-phones, laptops, and cell p= hones,

but sometimes end up = just staying busy.

But if we want to tal= k about busy,

let’s take a cl= ose look at today’s scripture reading from Mark’s gospel.

We have been thru les= s than a half chapter of Mark, and Jesus has been busy.

He has called his dis= ciples, started teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum

along the Sea of Galilee, cast out demons, and healed the sick.

When we pick up this = reading today, Jesus has just left the synagogue

and now he’s on= to Simon’s house.

Here he heals Peter&#= 8217;s mother-in-law (just in time for a meal,

I’m guessing, s= ince she immediately gets up and starts serving them.)

But then, later in th= e day, instead of enjoying

a nice evening with s= ome of his closest disciples,

the whole city gathers around the door. =

Once again, here in t= heir home, Jesus cures the sick, casts out the demons.

As I studied the scri= pture this week,

I couldn’t get = over the picture of an entire city gathered around the door,

looking for Jesus.

Let’s just imag= ine that scene for a moment.

I invite you to close= your eyes right now,

transport yourself in= your mind to your home.

Now imagine standing = right inside your front door.

You hear some noise, = people outdoors, and then some knocking. You open the door. What do you see? The w= hole city is gathered around the door.

People and their need= s and their problems stretch out as far as you can see.

Sometimes our lives feel like the whole city is gathered around the door.

When we open the door= to just the needs around us, we don’t see an end in sight.

There are demands at = work - depending on what you do for a living,

there are phone calls= to make, emails to answer, reports to finish, quotas to meet, meetings to atte= nd, lessons to prepare.

If you’re looki= ng for a job it can be overwhelming too.

Make contacts. Follow up on the interview. Write thank you emails and letters= . Search the web for new leads. Re-contact old leads. Polish resumes.

It’s the same k= ind of endless needs at home, too: <= o:p>

call for an appointme= nt, stop at the store, pick up the kids, make dinner,

throw in a load of laundry. Help with homework.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

Call aging parents. C= heck up on teens. <= /p>

When we open the door= to the world’s needs,

the scene of needs go= es on and on there, too.

NEEDS, NEEDS, NEEDS.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Everywhere we look there are more = needs.

Bare shelves at Norcr= oss Coop.

Increasing numbers of homeless people,

struggling to find sh= elter right here in Gwinnett County.

Teens right here in <= st1:country-region w:st=3D"on">Georgia= - too many of them - who never finish high school.

Children who are slip= ping through the cracks of our medical system in the U.S.

People around the glo= be who are suffering from starvation and malnutrition,

unsanitary water and = drought conditions, diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.

Violence and war and political turmoil in the Middle East in = Israel = and Iraq,

extending into Western Asia, to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

People struggling her= e and abroad from job loss,

financial losses, home foreclosures, and more. =

NEEDS, NEEDS, NEEDS.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Everywhere we look there are more = needs.

We can get what some = people call compassion fatigue.

Yet when Jesus was co= nfronted by all those needs gathered outside the door,

he did not run as fas= t as he could in the other direction.

The scripture tells u= s he continued his healing work of curing the sick

and casting out demon= s.

But what also stands = out in the scripture is that after a night of curing the sick, <= /p>

and attending to the = sick, in the morning, while it was still very dark,

Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, a= nd there he prayed.

When we, too, are overwhelmed by the needs knock= ing at our doors,

our own needs as well as the world’s needs= ,

we need to walk away from our busyness

and take the time and find the space to pray.

But the teaching of this scripture leads us to a= nother central question:

Why do we pray?

It is a question aske= d by both people of faith and those without faith.

Every major world rel= igion includes prayer as a spiritual practice.

Over the millennia, e= ven before organized religion arrived, people have prayed.

One author and histor= ian writes that for these ancient peoples, there was a “Sense of the Beyo= nd that seems to have been as instinctive as breathing, sleeping, and eating.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Conscious of their connection to t= hat Beyond, and evidently aware that a relationship could be established with i= t, people expressed their needs, wishes, and reverence.[1]

The prayer form that = we used today earlier in our worship demonstrates some of the major ways we pray - adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.

But however we pray, = we must be careful not to think of God

as some vending machi= ne in the sky, and prayer the coin we put in the machine. Nothing could be further from the truth.

More than anything el= se, the purpose of prayer is to connect us with God.

There are many ways p= eople have expressed that connection.

St. Teresa of Avila, 16^{th<=
/sup>
century Christian mystic, described prayer as “an intimate friendship=
, a
frequent conversation held alone with the Beloved.”}[2]

Another spiritual wri= ter, Simon Tugwell, said that prayer is a relationsh= ip with God; one becomes involve= d and takes the consequences.

Someone else once sai= d, “The end of prayer is not to win concessions from <= /p>

Almighty Power, but t= o have communion with Almighty Love.”

Yet, as much as we lo= ng for communion with God,

as much as we might d= esire that relationship with the divine,

more often than not w= e are simply not spending the time to develop that relationship.

We think we’re = too busy to pray. We don’t have a space where we go to pray,

to spend time with Go= d.

So today, I am going = to give you a couple of practical ways to step out of the busyness and to develop t= hat relationship with God. (Pass = out handouts.)

Maybe you think you don’t have the time. Th= is is only 15 minutes a day with God.

Maybe you don’t= have that deserted place where you can go to pray.

There is some corner of your home that you can use for prayer.

(Go through handouts)=

The “morning workout” opens and closes with prayer and it is grounded in scripture= .

One of the ways to be= guided by God is to begin our day with scripture, and ask for God’s guidance= in applying it to our lives.

You may even want to = write down a verse or part of a verse

and carry it with you= on a card. Or send yourself a text message.

The “end of the day” prayer form on the other side of your handout =

is a way of offering = your day back to God.

Remembering the joy a= nd the pain of the day

and offering both to = God is a way of reconnecting to God each day.

But maybe you’r= e still not convinced. Maybe you̵= 7;re not so sure about prayer.

Maybe you feel that y= ou need to know exactly who you’re praying to before you can pray.

Maybe you feel that u= nless your prayers are answered in a certain way,

there’s no sens= e in praying. Maybe you need proof= of the power of prayer.

That’s okay. God invites us to pray, invites us= into a relationship

whether we fully unde= rstand it or even believe it. In the 9^th chapter of Mark’s gospel= ,

there is a story wher= e a man goes to Jesus with his son who has suffered from seizures since childhood.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

The man says “I= f you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.”

Jesus replies, “= ;All things can be done for the one who believes.”

Then the man replies, “I do believe, help my unbelief,” and his son is healed.

And there is plenty o= f proof in recent years in the form of scientific studies

which show that the p= rayers of the faithful are powerful.

One of the first that established the effectiveness of prayer was in 1988

with patients at San Francisco General Hospital.

Heart patients who we= re prayed for tended to have fewer complications

than those who receiv= ed standard treatment without the prayers. [3]

Pray is one of those = things in our lives that we act out first, and understand later.

Faith seeking underst= anding is the way one theologian described it.&nb= sp;

To pray is to risk. To risk yielding to God. To risk n= ot understanding when our prayers don’t seem to be answered. But still to risk trusting, to risk believing, to risk connecting with God.

To risk growing in connections with each other. <= /span>

Maybe you’ve tr= ied this regular praying before,

and then just like New Year’s resolutions, after a few weeks, the habit slips away.

That’s okay, to= o. That’s what grace is for. It gives us a chance to begin again. <= /o:p>

To intentionally step= away from the busyness and begin a discipline of prayer.

One of the great prea= chers and missionaries of the 20^th century was Dr. E. Stanley Jones who said “When prayer fades out, power fades out.”

To pray is the key to= a relationship with God that will give you power beyond anything you have imagined.

Jesus knew that. He conducted his life and his mini= stry in such a way that he stayed in relationship with God. He went off to a deserted place to pray. Or to the mountain.

Or to the wilderness.= To pray, to spend time with God. <= o:p>

But as we make time a= nd space for prayer in small ways

even at the beginning= and the end of our day,

we begin to learn tha= t we can’t just pray at certain times,

and then take a vacat= ion from God the rest of the day.

Prayer is ongoing attentiveness or mindfulness towards God.&= nbsp;

It’s that ongoi= ng relationship with God that gives us power.=

And when we open the = door and see a whole city of needs gathered there,

when we sometimes feel overwhelmed by the needs knocking at our doors,

we come to understand= that as we stand looking out at that scene of needs -

we are never alone.

God, our loving Fathe= r, stands right there at the door with each of us. Amen.

Examen at the End of the Day

<= span style=3D'text-decoration:none'>

Silence - 2 minutes

Find a comfortable, quiet place. Rest in silence for a few min= utes

Review the day - 5 minutes

Ask God’s Spirit to lead you through a review of your day.
Recall a moment or event that brought you joy. What ha= ppened that made it life-giving? Sit with that moment and allow it to give you joy again. Offer your gratitude to God f= or that moment.
Recall a moment or incident that you would = like to go back and change. What made that moment so difficult? Sit with that moment in the l= ight of God’s love and allow yourself to feel whatever emotion you have. Offer that moment = to God for healing.

Pray - 1 minute

End with a prayer to God that gives thanks = for all the ways God has been with you this day -- through the joy and thr= ough the pain.

Seven Minute Morning Workout <= /u>

Pray - 1 minute

Offer to God any part of your life where yo= u need God’s presence.

Ask God to show you something new as you re= ad the scripture.

Read the Word - 5 minutes<= /p>

Choose a scripture verse for the day. Sources include the lectionar= y, devotional books, and many websites (try www.verseoftheday.com ).

Prayerfully ponder these questions:

What does this scripture say about God, Je= sus Christ, or the Holy Spirit?

What does this passage say about humanity = (or me)?

How can I apply this to my life?

Pray - 1 minute

Thank God for what you have learned

Ask God to help you apply it to your life

Pray for yourself and others