CAMINANDO WITH JESUS: Crossing Boundaries

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 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!”

- Luke 11:1-13

For the past several months, during the Prayers of the People, our congregation has offered to God our supplications for those in crisis on the southern border.

As we witness the flow of Central American migrants crossing the United States-Mexico border seeking political asylum, we are once again confronting the hard truths of what it means to take risks in the midst of great uncertainty and even danger. The detention centers, the living conditions and the treatment of children all signal what can happen in the absence of sound immigration policies.

The realities on the border remind us that we can live in fear or we can in faith. God’s people are no strangers to this choice. We have fled captivity and oppression in search of peace and well-being. We’ve stepped into potentially perilous and risky situations relinquishing certainty, safety and security. And our only succor has been garnered through our trust in God and our unwillingness to be afraid. 

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus teaches his friends how to pray and then later discusses why prayer is important. He says that when we pray, we should first bless God’s name. We should pray that God will set the world right by making it a healthy and safe place for all. We should pray that we are kept alive with plenty of food and that we remain in God’s forgiveness as we forgive others. Finally, we should pray that we are kept safe from harm and peril.

This Lord’s Prayer is a prayer of faith. Jesus offered this prayer to help those closest to him relinquish their fears and to place their trust in a redemptive, sustaining and liberating God. The prayer helps us bridge the chasm between wants and needs and opens the channel to God and our reliance on God’s grace and God’s will. 

Jesus then asks his listeners to imagine what would happen if we knocked on a friend’s door in the middle of the night and asks for food in order that we might be hospitable to another. He asserts that even if your friend won’t get up and give you what you need, stand there at his door and keep knocking. Be persistent. 
 
Jesus ends his illustration by saying, ‘Ask, and it will be given 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’.

What? Is this really true?

I can think of many things that I’ve prayed for and didn’t receive. We all have. Jesus’ words simply can’t be taken at face value. So what is he really saying? 

Perhaps Jesus is inviting us to center our prayers around the purposes of God. For the passage begins with one of his disciples asking Jesus to teach them how to pray.

Jesus tells him that prayer is not about trying to cajole or to manipulate God. When we pray, we are seeking intimacy with God. We can share our deepest concerns and we can express our deepest fears as well. We allow ourselves to be vulnerable. We take risks. And in our prayers, we can acknowledge our own inadequacy in responding faithfully to the needs of others and even our ignorance in knowing how. 
 
I believe that Jesus is saying that, at its best, prayer can help us cross mental, spiritual—and even physical—boundaries. Therefore, let prayer be risky. Let it be a journey that takes you somewhere.
 
What would it mean if our experience of prayer was much more nuanced—allowing God to probe the depth of our hearts while we seek out those places where God is active and making God’s presence known? What if our prayers could take us on a journey to the places where we most fear to go and ask us to trust that God is not only leading us there but is also there waiting for us at our journey’s end?  
 
This may require that we enter into prayer without a list of things that we want from God. For sometimes our lists can get in the way of this probing. Instead, we enter into prayer with true ‘openness’ and with trust that our vulnerabilities can be expressed, our fears can be allayed, and our deepest desires are fully met. The boundaries are crossed. The journey is complete and we have arrived at that place where God waits and acts.