"On Earth as it is in Heaven" - Matthew 6: 9-13

Do you believe that your prayers matter? Do you believe it matters when you pray the Lord’s Prayer as part of your daily routine or we pray it together here on a Sunday? 

We are now in our third week of our sermon series on the Lord’s Prayer, going piece by piece to delve into its meaning for our lives and our relationship with God. The first week we talked about Our Father in Heaven whose name is holy. Our Abba Father, who beckons us to draw near to him. Last week we discussed “your Kingdom come your will be done” big bold prayers, that Jesus invites us to pray on behalf of the world. Not as an afterthought but as our first petitions when we come before the throne of our God and King. This week we are entering into the next phrase, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Who taught you how to pray? Was it a pastor? A Sunday School teacher? A parent? A friend? For me it was a combination of people, but one of my first images of prayer is a placard that hung on my brothers’ nursery wall. It had the words “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep” written on it with the picture of a sleeping child. This is the first pray I remember learning. The first pray I remember praying with my parents each and every night before bed. But I wonder, when we were taught how to pray, were we taught why we pray. Is it because its something we are supposed to do, or something that’s nice to do? Today’s scripture proclaims that its more then that - its so God’s Kingdom can reign on Heaven and Earth.

Our prayers have power. The prayers of the saints have the ability to effect Heaven and Earth. When we pray we are heard in Heaven and the world can be changed because someone prays. Have you ever stopped and thought about that? Your prayers matter. Think back to the story of Abraham where he is pleading with God to spare the cities God plans to destroy. Abraham keeps negotiating with God, keeps pleading with God, and God gives him what he asks for. Finally, Abraham makes his final offer - if only ten righteous people can be found in the city, would God spare them? And God said He would, but sadly not even one could be found.

God wants us to pray prayers that have the power to change the course of history. God wants us to ask for big things for the Kingdom on Heaven and Earth. But we shy away from this. Maybe because we are afraid that we will be disappointed, or that the answer will be no. We don’t want to take that risk, so we’d rather not pray for big things, life changing things at all. I think we all can tell stories of times we have pleaded with God for something and haven’t received the answer we wanted. And brothers and sisters, I can’t tell you why that happens, it is the way of God. But even if I don’t understand God’s ways, I do know that we are encouraged to keep praying for these big things, because sometimes God answers yes to our requests and lives are truly transformed.

Think back to the story of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. Mary and Martha were tending to Lazarus in his last days and they sent an unnamed someone to Jesus to tell him to come and save their brother. They handpicked a person they trusted, a person who could carry out their request, who knew the way to Jesus, and who could go quickly. Did you ever think of that unnamed person as praying to Jesus when he asked him to come quickly and save Lazarus? He believed that Jesus had the power, and friends his prayer played a part in raising Lazarus from the grave. 

Praying prayers is essential to our relationship with God. It allows us to fall in love with God and know that we are loved by our Lord and Savior. When the unnamed man found Jesus he told him, the one you love is sick. We pray similar prayers every day, telling God that one he loves is in need of healing, a job, mending of relationships. We don’t tell God these things because God doesn’t know, but so that we remember that God loves the person we are praying for and loves us. To remember.

Today we have gathered in worship to remember many things. To remember the love our Lord have for us. The love that lead him to the cross to die for us. The love he had for us that raised him from the grave and gives us hope in that same resurrection with the saints as we celebrate holy communion. But we also remember, this special Sunday, the saints in our lives. Those people who taught us how to pray. Who reminded us every chance they got that Jesus loves us. We remember loved ones who have passed on from this life to the next and to proclaim, that Christ gave them victory over death and they are now part of the church triumphant, and we honor their memory.

This past Monday I was at a District training session on Sabbath, where one of the participants shared that she writes living tributes for people to remind them how much they matter on earth while they are living, instead of waiting until they pass to sing their praises. Brothers and sisters, if these people who taught you about the love of Christ and the power of prayer are alive this morning, take time today to thank them. To thank them for the powerful gift that the gave you. If the ones who bestowed these gifts to you have passed, remember them fondly this Sunday. Remember those who we have lost in this life, but who have impacted our life both now and to come. And as we celebrate Holy Communion remember that they will be part of the Heavenly banquet with us some day.

As we celebrate these saints, the ones who shook Heaven and Earth with their prayers for us and others, let us follow their example in remembering that our prayers matter. Our prayers matter. Our prayers shape our relationship with God and model for others both the intimacy and awe of that relationship. Let us come together as we remember and proclaim in hopeful expectancy that God’s Will and Kingdom will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Amen.