↓ Our Savior Lutheran Church, Grants Pass, OR
↓ Faith Lutheran Church, Medford OR
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Easter 6 Rogate Service Folder
John 16:23-30 OUR FATHER, WHO ART PRAYER
O God, grant us the Spirit of grace and prayer! Forgive us all our
sins committed while praying to You. Let Your Spirit work in us inexpressible
sighing. We despair of ourselves before Your face, holy God. Have mercy
on us. Let us nevermore offer empty words to You, but always pray in spirit
and in truth. Amen [Book of Family Prayer, by N. Laache, p. 345].
In Christ Jesus, in Whose Name we have direct access to the throne of
the Heavenly Father, dear fellow redeemed:
“CALL YE/PRAY YE” This 6th Sunday after Easter is historically
known as Rogaté Sunday, which is Latin for “Call Ye” or “Pray Ye.” In
centuries past the next three days of this week would be observed as special
days of prayer, when petitions would be made to God for the fields and for the
seeds planted in them, that the world might be blessed with food in the coming
harvest. Thinking about it, this might be a good practice for the church to pick
up again, especially in light of the various “Earth Day” celebrations that have
become more popular in recent years. Unlike Earth Day, which tends to make
an idol out of mother nature, and which has pagan leanings in its references to
the “spirit of the earth,” Rogaté days of prayer would emphasize our
dependence on Father God, the Creator and Sustainer of Life, and our
stewardship of a world that belongs to Him, not to us. In any event, the Gospel
chosen for this Sunday on the Historic Church calendar brings out the Words
of our Lord urging us to pray.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Jesus declares, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in My Name He will give you.” So, What does
that mean? What does it mean to pray “In Jesus’ Name?” Well, the Epistle of
James helps us to answer that question. First of all James tells us what
Christian prayer is not. He says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask
amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. Adulterers and
adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with
God?” [James 4:3-4] Prayer in Jesus’ Name is not simply a blank check to fulfill
worldly dreams and desires. We must confess that too often that’s how we
utilize prayer, to try to get God to follow our will rather than asking Him to
conform us to His will, to get Him to make our plans come to fulfillment rather
than seeking our place in the fulfillment of His plan of salvation. We need to
remember, too, that prayer is not only about asking for ourselves but also
interceding for others in their need, just as Jesus is our intercessor before the
Father in Heaven.
E.G. SOLOMON We would do well to follow the example of
young Solomon when we pray. When he first became king of Israel, the Lord
told him to ask for whatever he wanted. Solomon did not ask for riches or long
life or the death of his enemies. Instead, faced with the daunting task of ruling
God’s people Israel, and being only a young man, Solomon asked for a wise
and understanding heart, that he might rule well as king. His request was
focused not on himself but on what would be faithful to God and loving toward
his people.
TEACHER-JESUS: 1) Jesus Himself teaches us to pray this way in
the Lord’s Prayer. You’ve probably noticed that the first Three Petitions of the
Lord’s Prayeer is focused on God. “Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done.” Only then do we get to the Petition, “Give us this
day our daily bread.” First pray for those weightier spiritual matters, that God’s
name would be hallowed among us by what we teach and how we live, that His
kingdom of grace in Christ would flourish among us and throughout the world,
and that His will would be done in hindering every evil plan and purpose of the devil,
the world, and our sinful nature. Then you will be rightly prepared to pray for
your daily bread, your bodily needs, and material desires.
TEACHER-JAMES: 2) Secondly, James has this to say about
Christian prayer, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who
gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But
let him ask in faith, with no doubting.” [James 1:4-8] To pray in “Jesus’
name” means to pray with faith in Christ, believing in Him as Savior and
Lord, confident that He will surely hear and answer you according to His good
and gracious Will.
TRUE CHRISTIAN PRAYER This is what distinguishes Christian prayer
from all other prayers. We need to realize that not all prayer is Christian or God-
pleasing. For there is only one way truly to come to the Father, and that is
through Jesus, by faith in Him. Every other way focuses on man and leads to
uncertainty. Every other way ultimately runs into a brick wall. For “there is only
one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, Who gave
Himself a ransom for all.” 1Tim. 2:5-6 Jesus is the only Way to gain access to
the Father. Only He was able to break through the sin barrier that we had
erected which cut us off from God. By coming down from heaven and taking on
our flesh, Jesus reunited God and man in Himself. And by His sin-destroying
death and resurrection and ascension He has now cleared the way for us to
come to the throne of heaven.
ONE MEDIATOR To pray in Jesus’ Name, then, means to pray
with faith in Him as the only Mediator, the only way back to the Father. And
ultimately, to pray in Jesus’ Name means that you pray as if you were Jesus
Himself! When you call God “Father,” you are certainly praying as though you
were Christ. (Col. 12: 8-9) For He is, as we know, the only Son of the Father.
The only way legitimately to call God our Father is to gain Christ’s permission to
pray in His stead. That privilege is granted to you by your Baptism in Jesus’
name.
OLD BAPTISM CUSTOM There is an ancient custom that we still use
at Baptism, where the pastor lays his hands upon the child’s head while
praying the LORD’s Prayer. That is meant as a visual declaration that the gift
of calling God “Father” is being given to the one Baptized. Now he, too, is given
permission to pray the Lord’s Prayer. It’s as if Jesus is giving you His ID card
and Social Security Number at the font. In Jesus, you are counted as sons of
God with all the benefits that entails. God hears you just like He hears Jesus.
The Name of Jesus opens Heaven to you. It unlocks the door to the Father’s
Heart.
NEVER [PRAYING] ALONE When you pray as a Christian, you are never
praying alone, even if you’re by yourself. [At BARE MINIMUM] You’re always
praying in and with Christ. And if you are praying with Christ, you are also
praying together with everyone else who is baptized into Him. That’s why we
pray, “Our Father Who art in …” even when we’re praying in private. Jesus
includes Himself in that “OUR.”
JESUS “INTERCEDES” Indeed, Jesus is seated at the Right Hand of
the Father always to intercede and pray for us to the Father and bring Him
our petitions and thanksgivings. Jesus is our go-between with God the Father,
the One who prays our prayers to Him and who thereby gives us the certainty
that our prayers are heard. Romans 8 even teaches us that the Spirit of Christ
intercedes for us with groans that are too deep for words. Sometimes when
we are not able to formulate the words as we like, when we come before God
with nothing more than our deepest needs and yearnings, the Spirit fills in the
blanks with unutterable divine language.
WHO DOES THE ACTION[?] Prayer, then, is as much God’s action as it is
yours. When we talk about the power of prayer, we’re really talking about the
power of God Who teaches and moves us to pray, Who hears our prayers
through Christ, and who answers them as a loving Father. When we say prayer
changes things, what we really mean is that the Lord changes things and
changes us as He leads us to trust in Him. The One to Whom you are praying
counts more than what you say or who you are. For the True God, the Holy
Trinity hears your prayers not because of your merits and qualifications, but
for the sake of Jesus alone.
BEGIN & END [W/ GOD] Prayer begins and ends with God. He
speaks His Words of Life into you; and then by those very words, He gives you
the words to pray and speak back to Him in faith, like a child who learns to
speak by listening to His parents. Through the Lord’s coming to you, He
enables you to make requests based on what He has spoken and promised, to
praise and thank Him for His goodness and mercy toward you. This is why
Jesus comes forth from the Father into the world and then returns to the Father
so that He might reach out to draw you into Himself and His divine life.
POSITIVE ENCOURAGEMENT And to keep you steadfast in that divine faith
and life, Jesus gives you many encouragements to pray. In the Gospel, He
says, “Ask, and you will receive.” Come in My Name as dear children of a
dear Father in Heaven. St. James reminds us that so often we do not have
because we simply do not ask. We are always looking for our own solutions
before we ever give a thought to petitioning the Lord of our life. And so Jesus
gently and lovingly invites us, “Ask, and you will receive, seek and you will find,
knock and the door will be opened.”
CONCLUSION. JUST ASK So ASK. In this world, you will have trouble.
But be of good cheer. Christ has overcome the world by His Holy Cross. So
ask and you will receive, that your joy may be full. By asking you are believing
in Christ. And believing in Christ you are receiving Him Who is joy in the flesh,
Who cheers your heart even now with His life-giving Body and Blood. In Him,
your joy is truly full. IJ’N, Amen.