**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
Introduction to the day
Persistence
in prayer is encouraged by Jesus and wins the attention of God when Abraham
intercedes for Sodom. The life of the baptized—to be rooted and built up in
Christ Jesus—is to be nurtured with prayer. God hears and answers prayer and so
strengthens God’s own. “When I called, you answered me; you increased my
strength within me.”
Gathering Song – Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying (ELW 752)
Greeting
The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And
also with you.
Prayer of the Day
Let
us pray.
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.
Amen.
Readings
A
reading from Hosea (1:2-10)
When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to
Hosea, ‘Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom,
for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.’ So he went and took
Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
And the Lord said to him, ‘Name him Jezreel; for in a little
while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put
an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. On that day I will break the bow
of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.’
She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the Lord said
to him, ‘Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of
Israel or forgive them. But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will
save them by the Lord their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or
by war, or by horses, or by horsemen.’
When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a
son. Then the Lord said, ‘Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am
not your God.’
Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people’, it shall be said to them, ‘Children of the living God.’
The
word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm
85
Lord,
you were favourable to your land;
you
restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You
forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin.
You
withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
Restore
us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation towards us.
Will
you be angry with us for ever?
Will you prolong your anger to all
generations?
Will
you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
Show
us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
Let
me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him
in their hearts.
Surely
his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.
Steadfast
love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each
other.
Faithfulness
will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the
sky.
The
Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness
will go before him,
and will make a path for his steps.
A
reading from the Letter of Paul to the Colossians. (2:6-19)
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord,
continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established
in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy
and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental
spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole
fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have come to fullness in him, who is
the head of every ruler and authority. In him also you were circumcised with a
spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision
of Christ; when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with
him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. And when
you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you
alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the
record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing
it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public
example of them, triumphing over them in it.
Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
The
Lord be with you.
And
also with you.
The Holy
Gospel according to Luke. (11:1-13)
Glory
to you, O Lord.
He was praying in a certain place, and after he had
finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John
taught his disciples.’ He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread.
And forgive us our
sins,
for we
ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
And do not bring
us to the time of trial.’
And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and
you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of
bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.”
And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been
locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you
anything.” I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything
because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up
and give him whatever he needs.
‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 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 the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’
The Gospel
of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
Sermon
May our eyes see, our ears hear, and your words be written on our hearts. Amen
Prayer is one of the most misunderstood and misused practices of our faith. For many, prayer is understood as an exercise in magic. People often believe that if they say the right phrases or have the proper technique, they can persuade God to answer their prayers.
There is an old story of a monk who was bothered by mice playing around him when he prayed. To stop it, he got a cat and kept it in his prayer room so the mice would be scared away. But he never explained to his disciples why he had the cat.
So, one day, the monk walked down the corridors of the monastery and noticed that each of his disciples had a cat in their prayer room. After seeing the monk with a cat, they thought having a cat was the secret to powerful praying.
I believe this is a parable for many Christians today. We believe we have to do something special in order for God to hear us and have our prayers answered.
But prayer doesn’t work that way. Prayer is more than asking for things.
Prayer is praise;
prayer is thanksgiving;
prayer is conversation;
prayer is questioning;
prayer is arguing;
prayer is lamenting.
Prayer is all these things and more.
Prayer is intimate communication with our Lord. It is as natural as turning around and speaking to a friend. It can involve many elements, such as thanksgiving, praise, confession. We can pray for others through intercessions, and for ourselves through supplications.
And then, more importantly, prayer is being quiet and still and listening to God and being transformed by what is being communicating to us.
Prayer is vital, for how can we expect to be in relationship with God if we don't communicate with God?
Jesus taught us this lesson. Just read through the gospel of Luke, and you will find Jesus praying consistently at every turn in his life.
He prays as he senses
God's call on his life;
He prays before
choosing his disciples;
He prays as he serves
and heals other people;
He prays as he feels
the demands and pressures of his ministry;
He prays as he faces
the cross;
He prays as he finishes his work on the cross.
Jesus is continually praying. You could say that prayer for him was as vital as taking his next breath. He knew that in order to live out the life God called him to live, he needed to be continually connected to God in prayer; God was the source of his power.
It was out of his own consistent prayer life that Jesus gives us the teaching in our reading for today.
The disciples notice Jesus praying all the time, and they finally get a clue and say, "Teach us to pray."
They observe that prayer is a vital practice for Jesus, and they want to learn how to do it. And what follows is a profound lesson from Jesus about prayer.
It is not a lesson in
right technique.
It is not a lesson in
right phrasing.
It is not a lesson in how to persuade God.
It is a lesson in persistence.
Through the story of the man banging on the door all night, and the repeated words, ask, seek, and knock, Jesus is telling us that effective prayer is consistent prayer. Effective prayer is a continual connection to God.
And if you look close at today's reading you will also notice Jesus telling us that effective prayer is not about what we can get from God, but what we receive from God. There is a big difference!
For, often times, what we want from God and what we receive from God are two different things.
Consider for a moment the unanswered prayer.
Unanswered prayer creates a huge crisis of faith. It puts honest believers in a bind between wondering whether God failed, or they did. Most of us, believing it unfaithful to fault God, blame ourselves instead. We must not have had enough faith, or we didn't have enough other Christians praying for us, or we just didn't pray the right way.
Have you ever prayed and prayed for something and there seems to be no answer? I certainly have. And we are not alone!
Throughout Scripture we see instances of followers of God who cried out and did not seem to have their prayers answered. The two biggest examples were Jesus and Paul.
Remember, Jesus pled for God to "take this cup from me," but to no avail. And the Apostle Paul begged God to take away "the thorn in his flesh," but God never did. Obviously, their prayers were not answered to their satisfaction.
Some say prayers are not answered if our faith is weak, or if there is undisclosed sin in our lives, or we have not persevered in prayer. I don’t believe any of that to be true. And we can receive comfort from the fact that even Jesus and Paul went through times of fervent praying for God to do something, and God not complying with their requests. We are not alone.
As for our own unanswered prayers, maybe God has answered you and you just don't like the answer.
Someone once said that God answers prayer in one of three ways: Yes, No, and not yet. I recall times in my own life when I prayed and prayed for God to give me something, and my prayer was never answered, or so I thought. Later, I discovered that what I wanted was not the right thing for me. More likely than not, my prayer was indeed answered, just not as I expected it to be.
We need to keep in mind that what is implied in Jesus' words for us today is that God always answers prayer. Now, God may not give us the answer we want or answer us at the time we want, but God always answers us. And God will always answer us with our best interest at heart.
Remember, Jesus said: "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
Notice what Jesus does not say. He does not say, "How much more will the heavenly Father give you what you want when you ask for it?" He says that those who ask him will be given the Holy Spirit. This means that when we pray, God gives us what we need to be empowered and to grow. This is a great promise that should encourage us to pray more!
As I have grown in my faith, I have learned that prayer does indeed "change things," but it’s not God who changes. It’s me; it’s us.
You see, prayer is not designed to change or persuade God; it is designed by God to change us! Prayer is a spiritual discipline through which we are formed into disciples of Jesus Christ.
I believe this is what Jesus is driving at in our Scripture reading for today. When we ask long enough, seek hard enough, knock loud enough, and pray persistently enough, something happens to us on the inside, in here (tap heart).
The discipline of prayer begins to awaken us to the Holy Spirit inside of us, and our motives and desires begin to change. It is like the persistence of our praying becomes the axe that breaks up the frozen numbness of our souls. Then the power and wisdom of God break in and we begin to be formed by the will of God.
Persistent prayer pulls us closer to the God Almighty. And as we move closer to God in prayer, we find that we do not get what we want from God. We get something better. We get what we need. We get what God wants us to have.
Are you still wondering and worrying about your unanswered prayers? God has an answer for you. But whatever your request, know that God's answer will always involve your heart being changed by God’s love.
Let us pray with these
words as sung by Garth Brooks:
Sometimes I thank God
for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're
talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he
doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.
Amen
Hymn
of the Day
– Savior, like a Shepherd Lead Us (ELW #789)
Apostles’
Creed
Let us declare the faith of our baptism as we say together
the Apostles’ creed.
I
believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I
believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On
the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I
believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
Prayers of Intercession
Trusting in God’s extraordinary love, let us come near to
the Holy One in prayer.
Silence
Rooted and built up in Christ, we pray for the church.
Embolden church leaders to take risks for the sake of the gospel and equip the
baptized to proclaim your extravagant love for the whole world. We pray for the
National Lutheran Bishop Susan Johnson, the Anglican Primate Linda Nicholls,
the Interim Indigenous Archbishop Sidney Black, the MNO Synod Bishop Jason
Zinko, the Diocese of Rupert’s Land Bishop Geoff Woodcroft, and all clergy and
lay leaders within the IRSM.
Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Rejoicing in the works of your hands, we pray for the
natural world. Make rivers and lakes, oceans and all waterways, sparkle with your
radiance. Protect water sources and strengthen those who defend them.
Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Interceding on behalf of the vulnerable, we pray for the
peoples of the world. Inspire all rulers and governing authorities with your
justice. Guide the work of legislators and public officials, that they advocate
for the well-being of those they serve. We pray for our Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau, our Premier Heather Stefanson, and all local leaders.
Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Persistent in prayer, we pray for our neighbors in need. To
all who have hunger, give daily bread. To all who have bread, give hunger for
justice. Open us to the cries of those who suffer.
Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Abounding in thanksgiving, we pray for this congregation and
all the congregations in the IRSM. Bless the prayer and fellowship ministries
in this place. Call us together in times of praise and blessing, trouble and
sorrow, in your holy name.
Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Buried with Christ in baptism and raised with him to new
life, we give thanks for your saints who rest in your eternal presence. Join
our voices with theirs as we sing of your great glory.
Merciful God,
receive our prayer.
Receive the prayers of your children, merciful God, and hold
us forever in your steadfast love; through Jesus Christ, our holy Wisdom.
Amen.
Peace
The
peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Offering
Hymn – Jesus,
Remember Me
Offering
Prayer
Let
us pray.
God
of abundance, you have set before us a plentiful harvest. As we feast on your
goodness, strengthen us to labor in your field, and equip us to bear fruit for the
good of all, in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Dialogue
The
Lord be with you.
And also with you.
Lift
up your hearts.
We lift them to the Lord.
Let
us give thanks to the Lord our God.
It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Preface
It
is indeed right, our duty and our joy,
that
we should at all times and in all places
give
thanks and praise to you, almighty and merciful God,
through
our Savior Jesus Christ;
who
on this day overcame death and the grave,
and
by his glorious resurrection opened to us the way of everlasting life.
And
so, with all the choirs of angels,
with
the church on earth and the hosts of heaven,
we praise your name and join their unending hymn:
Holy, Holy, Holy
Thanksgiving at
the Table
Holy
God,
our Maker, Redeemer, and Healer,
in the harmonious world of your creation,
the plants and animals,
the seas and stars
were whole and well in your praise.
When
sin had scarred the world,
you sent your Son to heal our ills
and to form us again into one.
In
the night in which he was betrayed,
our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;
broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take and eat; this is my body, given for you.
Do
this for the remembrance of me.
Again,
after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,
and gave it for all to drink, saying:
This cup is the new covenant in my blood,
shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.
Do
this for the remembrance of me.
Remembering,
therefore,
his acts of healing,
his body given up,
and his victory over death,
we await that day when all the peoples of the earth
will come to the river to enjoy the tree of life.
Send
your Spirit upon us and this meal:
as grains scattered on the hillside become one bread,
so let your Church be gathered from the ends of the earth,
that all may be fed with the Bread of life, your Son.
Through
him all glory and honor is yours,
Almighty Father, with the Holy Spirit,
in your holy Church,
both now and forever.
Amen
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father
in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us
today our daily bread.
Forgive us
our sins
as we forgive those
who sin against us.
Save us from
the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the
kingdom, the power,
and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen.
Invitation to Communion
This
is the table of Christ. It is made ready for those who love him, and for those
who want to love him more. Come, whether you have much faith or little, have
tried to follow, or are afraid that you have failed. Come. Because it is
Christ's will that those who want to meet him, might meet him here. These are
the gifts of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
Sharing of the Eucharist
Table
Blessing
The
body and blood of our Lord
Jesus
Christ strengthen you
and
keep you in his grace.
Amen.
Prayer
After Communion
As
we have feasted around the table, let us pray.
Life-giving
God, through this meal you have bandaged our wounds and fed us with your mercy.
Now send us forth to live for others, both friend and stranger, that all may
come to know your love. This we pray in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Blessing
The
God of peace,
Father,
☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless
you, comfort you,
and
show you the path of life
this
day and always.
Amen.
Sending
Song – What
a Friend We Have in Jesus (ELW #742)
Dismissal
Go
in peace to love and serve your neighbor.
Thanks be to God.
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