A Man of Constant Prayer

My personal prayer guide, the one who taught me about prayer and about personal prayer life, was Tevye.

He was a man of constant prayer. 
Oh, no, he did not go into a dark room and light a candle and recite holy mantras,
no, he did not engage in long prayers with big learned words,
no, he did not wait for a quiet time when he could be still and know God.

One of my very favorite writers is Anne Lamott.

Anne Lamott, Tevye, and James are all part of the same school. 
And we should pay attention to what they say and their understanding of prayer.


James 5: 13-16

One of my very favorite writers is Anne Lamott.
Anne Lamott lives near where Suzanne and I lived in Northern California just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

Anne Lamott makes her living writing and teaching others how to write.
She writes novels and many fine personal essays on events that happen in her life that take on cosmic significance.

She once wrote:
I try to write the books I would love to come upon, that are honest, concerned with real lives,
human hearts,
spiritual transformation,
families,
secrets, wonder, craziness —
and that can make me laugh.
When I am reading a book like this,
I feel rich and profoundly relieved to be in the presence of someone who will share the truth with me,
and throw the lights on a little,
and I try to write these kinds of books.
And, that’s what I feel when I read her writing.
She continues:  Books, for me, are medicine.

Anne Lamott’s life was not an easy one.
It is involves surviving bouts with drugs and booze,  hard-living and depression.
Finding herself pregnant at the age of 35, she writes about finding the local Presbyterian Church – the same one I worshiped in many times when we lived there.

About that experience, she writes about how she week after week after week, she would show up at the door of the church right as the service was beginning; but, would not enter the room.
Week after week she stood there listening to what was going on inside, observing the people, listening to the preacher.

She did eventually enter the room, and was warmly greeted and accepted by all – despite her strange looks, her odd dress, her big belly, and her lack of a marital partner.

She credits the people of that congregation of helping her to raise her son. 
She tells of the gray-headed ladies doting over the baby, and eager to provide relationships for him through the years.
Now 20, with a son of his own, her son Sam, considers the folks of that congregation as his extended family.

And she writes about how this church has helped her with her faith journey.
She first wrote about this in a book she called:
    Traveling Mercies : Some Thoughts on Faith
A few years later, she published Plan B : Further Thoughts on Faith.
And soon her latest book will be published with the title:
Three Essential Prayers: Help, Thanks, Wow!

She describes three kinds of prayers that really can enhance our lives – if and when we do them.

Anne Lamott begins with the premise the prayer
“is communication from the heart to that which surpasses understanding . . .
communication from one’s heart to God.”

I have admitted several times that my personal prayer guide, the one who taught me about prayer and about personal prayer life, was Tevye (?) – the lead character of Fiddler On the Roof !
Throughout the whole play,
throughout the whole movie,
Tevye demonstrated to us – the audience, the reader, the viewer -
there was absolutely nothing in his life that was devoid of God’s involvement.
He was a man of constant prayer. 
Oh, no, he did not go into a dark room and light a candle and recite holy mantras,
no, he did not engage in long prayers with big learned words,
no, he did not wait for a quiet time when he could be still and know God.
No.
Tevye prayed when his horse went lame.
Tavye prayed when his daughter and the town butcher wanted to get married.
Tevye prayed when he and his family were moved out of their historic village.
Tevye lived his life in constant prayer.
“I am a man of constant sorrow,” the song goes.
Tevye was a man of constant prayer.
(That ought to the title and topic of a song!)

And, I believe, Anne Lamott is a product of the Tevye school, as well.
She writes of one type of prayer:
“When we are stunned to the place beyond words... when all we can say in response is ‘Wow!’
that’s a prayer.”

But, I am also sure that Anne Lamott was influenced by the Presbyterian Church she attends.
Where, no doubt, she has read and heard the Bible read.

Ever since the first century, or so, Christian believers have paid attention to this short document we have in our Bible known as the Book of James.

Anne Lamott, Tevye, and James are all part of the same school. 
And we should pay attention to what they say and their understanding of prayer.

The Book of James says, when you find yourself in times of trouble, pray.

Of course, it is easy for us to neglect this spiritual gift, isn’t it?
You are I are richly blessed by having been taught about the power of prayer.
It may have started early in your life, when you learned a prayer before bedtime.
Maybe a Sunday school teacher taught you a prayer to say before a meal.
Our worship service begins and ends in prayer.
It is an essential part of our lives.

Prayer has healing power because it is the practice of entering into the presence of God.

We think of prayer only as a means of getting something for ourselves.

Prayer is also a means of giving ourselves to God.

Jesus realized the power of prayer.
It was an important part of his life.
When he was overworked, he sought a quiet place to get away and pray.
When he was afraid of the future, he went off to pray.
When he was disappointed, he sought comfort in prayer.

Prayer helps us deal with our frustration and anger.

Have you ever been so angry with someone that you couldn't stop thinking about it?
A preacher friend offers an antidote to that anger:
Don't pray to stop being angry.
Instead, pray that good things will come to that person who has angered you.
Pray for his welfare.
Pray for blessings to rain upon her.
Amazingly you will feel the hurt and anger drift away.
The obsession with revenge and retribution will dissipate.
That's the power of prayer.
Jesus says that our own welfare depends upon our ability to forgive:
"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins" (Matthew 11:25).

The fact is, most Americans do pray.
A recent survey reports that 78% of Americans pray at least once a week - 
57% say they pray daily.

Current books in print list almost 2,000 titles on prayer, meditation, and spiritual growth.
After the Bible, books on prayer are among the biggest sellers.

A Newsweek article tells about a 31-year-old woman who drops to her knees at her front door each morning before rushing off to her job as a bakery representative;
and a seventy-year-old bank vice president who prays for twenty minutes while on his stationary bicycle.
A 53-year-old man who prays five times a day says, "I don't look for anything miraculous to happen.
The miracle is being able to speak directly to your maker."

James' first antidote: When you're in trouble, pray!

James also says, "when you're sick, seek the prayers of your friends."
There is strength and power in seeking the support, the comfort, and the nurturing of like-minded fellow believers.

Now, I don’t base the efficacy of corporate prayer on the findings of scientific studies;
But it is interesting to note that several double blind studies have indicated that sick individuals for whom a group of believers have prayed have recovered more rapidly and more completely than those for whom no prayers were raised.
This occurred even though the individuals did not know that they were being prayed for.

Cardiologist Dr. Randolph Byrd conducted a study of 393 coronary patients.
They were divided into two groups.
One group would be the beneficiaries of prayer and the other would not.
No one knew which group the patients were in.
The prayer groups were simply given the first names of the patients, along with brief descriptions of their medical problems.
When the study was completed ten months later, the prayed-for patients benefited in several areas: they were five times less likely to require antibiotics; they were two and a half times less likely to suffer congestive heart failure;
they were less likely to suffer cardiac arrest.

An edition of American Scientist magazine included the article "The Revival of Experiments on Prayer" by Keith Stewart Thomson, former president of the Academy of Natural Sciences.
In the article he wrote, "Evidence is growing that the experience of sharing prayer with friends has a powerful effect on health outcomes.
These benefits are susceptible to explanations that do not necessarily involve the direct intervention of God."
Thomson goes on to note the biblical relationship between prayer and faith or "believing."
Notice that Jesus tells his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it,
and it will be yours" (Matthew 11:24).

James tell us that when we ask God for anything we must ask in faith:
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;
he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
- James 1:6-7

The second antidote is this: "When you are sick, seek the prayers of your friends."

The last antidote, which James offers, is "When you have sinned, 'fess up."

Alcoholics Anonymous has long recognized that repressed and un-admitted guilt leads to deeper and deeper trouble and despair.
When an alcoholic keeps certain facts hidden, it feeds the compulsion to get drunk.
Recovery involves an honest self-evaluation and a public confession of character defects and shortcomings.
With that confession comes relief, forgiveness, healing.

For sure, it's not easy to confess our weaknesses, is it?
It is not easy to say, "I was wrong."
There is something in each of us that insists on being right
and believing that it is always someone else's fault, right?
It really takes great courage to admit failure,
to confess a defect or shortcoming.
But such confessions are part of our spiritual healing and well-being.
Unconfessed guilt festers within us.
It produces impatience,      rage,      even ill health.
It destroys friendships and leads to isolation and hostility.
We are much more likely to appreciate and respect the person who humbly confesses his guilt than the self-righteous individual who professes to be flawless.

The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector."
And Jesus said, "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."   - Luke 18:11, 14b

The biblical message from the book of James gives sound advice, offering antidotes to life's problems.
When you experience trouble, pray.
When you are ill, seek prayer from your friends.
When you’re happy, sing!
When you do something wrong, ‘fess up.

Anne Lamott writes:
acknowledge when you need help – our faith puts us in tune with the ultimate power of the universe;
always, always, be quick with the thanks when things go right;
and when you experience a “Wow” moment – remember the source –
and the more often you do acknowledge the source, the more “wow” moments you will have.

Tevye (and I) (and yes, the Apostle Paul) say:
pray constantly at all times, in all things, all-ways.

James reminds us that prayer has powerful effect.
And, the great thing is. 
You can test this out for yourself.

Remember Tevye. 
Live a day in constant prayer.
 
There are many opportunities for prayer.
 
I have seen lives change.
Attitudes changes. 
Health change.
Understandings change.
Prayer has powerful effect.
 
Try it.
 
Amen. 

The Congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, USA, heard this sermon during a worship service October 14, 2012.