The Gospel According to Matthew - Prayer and Persistence [June 14, 2026]

Good morning everyone. Are we all so happy with

the weather today? It's so nice. Oh my gosh.

I was at a place last week, which my work takes

me in a lot of places, but it was on the equator,

so I just assumed it was gonna be like blazing

hot, and it was like 65 degrees all week. It

was amazing. It was also 10 ,000 feet up, so

I couldn't breathe. It was really hard. My lungs

were very aware. But it was so comfortable. And

then I got back on Thursday. And I was like,

it was terrible. Tornadoes and downpours. And

welcome back to Midwest. So upon my return, I

realized I probably had missed a few days of

this already. But I missed the few days. of this

fight that a cat bird was having with itself

in my front and sometimes side windows. Have

you ever had birds who decide that their reflection

is their worst enemy? Yeah, so this was what

was going on and I was waking up to it at 6 a

.m. and I was like, what is that sound? I have

a branch very close to one of my windows, and

this bird is getting up and choosing violence

all day every day, and it leaps at itself in

the window and then proceeds to peck over and

over and over and over again at the glass. And

then it will go away, and I'll be reading, and

then it's like... Oh my gosh. And it's been happening

every day since I got back. And I even put up

a board in the window thinking it would deter

it, and it did not. It just found another window,

which I'm like, how do you... You know where

the windows are. How do you know that you're

not fighting yourself? Whatever. So here's the

thing. This is not the first of this that I've

encountered this year. And I think maybe it was

sometime in May, this was going on like mad as

well, but with a robin. So that was a whole thing.

So I discovered that robins, because of this,

are pretty territorial during the spring nesting

season. Yesterday, I found myself Googling, are

cat birds territorial? And it turns out they

are highly territorial. And so these birds have

persisted to protect their nests against themselves.

But honestly, I also commend them too, because

as long as there is a perceived threat, even

if it is their own self, they will persist. in

their efforts to protect the nest, and they will

persist in their efforts to ward off ill intent.

And there are a lot of cats around the neighborhood,

so the vigilance is important. So persist little

one, persist. So I would like to tell you that

conveniently, we are talking this week about

prayer and persistence. And my little cat bird

was a great illustration this week. My little

friends have helped me with this setup, even

if they chipped away at my sanity all day every

day while picking unwinnable battles with themselves,

which, honestly, I can't say I haven't also done

the same before. But friends, since the Bible

has so much to say about prayer, we're going

to approach this more like a clinic, like a learning

clinic than a proper sermon. It will be both.

You know, there's a lot to learn about prayer.

And I think that there's some really amazing

tools out there, both now and historic, that

the church has put together to help aid us in

how we pray. And so we're going to take a look

at a bunch of things today. We've been in the

book of Matthew for a few months. Love it. I

love parking at a book for a while and digging

in deep. And Matthew has some really good words

about prayer. But we will use it as a jumping

off point because I think we could also use some

tools and since summer is here and We do things

a little differently in the summer our time is

a little bit different grabbing for a new set

of helps and taking the time to consider things

more deeply is a Summer's a good opportunity

to do that. So I think that's what we could benefit

from today And we have everyone in here. We have

Treehouse in here. We have Shed in here. All

of us adults are together. So this is a great

day to do some collective learning. So we're

going to read from the passage in Matthew. We're

going to read Matthew 7, chapter 7, verses 7

through 11. Matthew 7, 7 through 11. And I will

invite you to take a posture of prayer. We like

to say that standing is a good posture to activate

yourself. If you are able to do that, but whatever

you whatever posture you take make sure it is

intentional towards the word of God this morning

So I'll read ask and it will be given to you

seek and you will find Knock and the door will

be open to you for everyone who asks receives

And the one who seeks finds and to the one who

knocks the door will be opened Which of you if

your son asks for bread will give him a stone

or if he asks for a fish will give him a snake

if You then who though you are evil know how

to give good gifts to your children How much

more will your father in heaven give good gifts

to those who ask him? Let's pray God, thank you

for your word. I thank you that Jesus shared

this with us as well as an invitation to come

to you. And I pray that we would let these words

sink deep in our hearts and deep in ourselves,

that they would become a part of the foundation

of our faith. And that you would teach us today

and grow us in many ways. I pray this in your

name. Amen. Can I have a seat? So the opening

ideas are ask, seek and knock. That's an easy

thing to grab hold of. Ask, seek and knock. Ask,

seek and knock. What is prayer? It certainly

is a lot of things. I think even someone who

does not follow God conceptually knows what prayer

is. Do you think that's safe to say? Even if

they are not of the Christian religion, I think

it's safe to say that the idea of prayer reaching

out to a greater force for some help in this

life is probably a familiar idea worldwide in

a lot of ways. But as followers of Jesus, It

becomes an essential piece of our faith. We believe

in a God who wants to communicate with us. We

believe in a God that loves us and desires good

things for us. We believe in a God that has good

work to do in this world and invites us to be

co -laborers. We believe in a God that has messages

just for our own hearts and wants to share them

with us. And for those things to happen, for

those messages to come through, we need to learn

how to tune our ears to the voice of God. And

we need to open up the side of communication

we are responsible for, and God, we will find,

is there already communicating to us and with

us. Prayer as a thing in our life is a gift.

It is awesome that we have been invited to communicate

with the living God, but it is also a discipline

to be practiced. It is a muscle to be strengthened.

Prayer is something, when done regularly with

persistence, becomes a part of us. It becomes

part of the foundation of our faith, and it eventually

becomes something that helps us stand straighter

as believers and walk longer and further down

roads that are less certain. Prayer when practiced

over time is life altering. It will change you.

And you will experience the voice of God in your

life with greater clarity. You will experience

the power of God in your life with greater measure.

I do understand that some of us may have a complicated

relationship with prayer. There is something

you were told to pray about and the outcome wasn't

what you had hoped for. And I'm not just talking

about how you prayed for a better test score

and you didn't get it. I'm talking about those

prayers that are considered, though everything

is, but those prayers that we kind of put extra

weight on and we're like, these are the big ones.

The ones that feels like you should be praying

when you're desperate. The ones that find you

praying for loved ones to get well that didn't.

Or the ones where you prayed that there would

be emotional healing and the other person or

even yourself found that your heart wasn't changed.

And so sometimes we just give up because it can

hurt when the outcome doesn't match what we had

hoped for. And in those cases, the verse in Matthew

seems like a pipe dream. Maybe you felt like

God might answer prayers, but he didn't answer

mine. Do you guys remember the movie Goonies?

It probably doesn't take me much in a sermon

to mention something from the 80s. There's the

moment that they go down in the wishing well,

and they find all the pennies and the coins that

have been dropped in the wishing well. And one

of them starts gathering about pennies. Somebody's

like, these are people's wishes. He was like,

yeah, well, this one was my wish, and it didn't

come true. So I'm taking it back, taking them

all back. That wasn't in my notes. You just got

that for free. Because my mind doesn't stray.

It doesn't take too much to stray to something

like that. But we really do have these moments

where we're like, God might answer prayers, but

he didn't answer mine. And if that's how you

feel, the conclusions you might draw are just

as difficult. What does it mean if God didn't

answer my prayer as I put it out there? So often,

I'd like to suggest, and this can be difficult,

our disappointment in prayer is loaded up by

what we believe to be true about God. If God

is cruel and stern, then you not getting what

you had prayed for is God being cruel and withholding

and not caring. And by default, it's what you

might come to expect. If God is joyful about

his children and wants to lavish his love on

them, then you not getting what you hoped for

in prayer is God making a way and doing something

beyond what we can see. And these are simple,

simplistic ideas. I want to be careful with your

hearts and recognize that it's not just this

simple. But I believe that the truths that we

hold about God show up most when we talk about

prayer. Angry father, loving friend, gracious

or judging, We approach God in a way that we

project God to be. And what we believe to be

true will be revealed when we approach God in

prayer. And so this might be the first point

of transformation for us. The first point at

which we evaluate what we believe and then ask

ourselves if it's true. Because you might have

already heard the verse this morning and immediately

thought, that's a fiction. Ask and it will be

given to you? No. But may your first prayer on

the other side of that realization be, God, I'm

asking you to help me see you with truthful eyes.

And I guarantee that prayer will be answered.

And from here, our persistence in prayer is often

what helps shape the reality around prayer and

forms. over time a more truthful view of God.

The more you pray, the more you engage in prayer,

the more you have eyes to see what God is up

to, where God is at work, and even the way God's

working all things out for your good. And then

you start to rejoice about what you see. And

the more you give thanks, the more you become

less very specifically focused on the thing in

front of you, the more you understand that prayer

is not just the asking of God to do something,

but about watching God work. not just for you,

but for all of his kids. And then the experience

of his invitation for you to join in that work.

It all begins expanding. And so while you were

once focused on the one thing and prayed for

that, the persistence of the practice of prayer

begins expanding our world. And I haven't yet

said that it means that everything's gonna turn

out fine, because we just don't know. But it

does change us, and it forms us, and it brings

us deeper into truth. I believe prayer is meant

to change us. The part about persistence is not

so much that we keep banging on God's door until

something happens, until he finally takes notice

of us, right? But that it directs and focuses

our trust and keeps us reminded of who is really

the Lord of this wild ride of life. Prayer keeps

us connected to that And so let's get into what

kinds of prayers to find in the Bible because

often I think when we first are introduced the

idea of prayer and maybe First growing our faith.

We are told to come to God with our needs hundred

percent But if we just stop there, we're not

gonna grow right? We're not gonna develop a healthy

communication with God So yes, let's talk about

the different kinds of prayer Supplication is

a kind of prayer that we should be participating

in. We absolutely should be earnestly asking

God for specific things in this world because

God is our very present help. He's our very present

help and wants to give guidance and wants to

care for us. There's an example in Philippians,

do not be anxious about anything but in every

situation present your request to God. joyful

thing to know that when we are in need we have

a place to go and a creator that will listen

to us. But prayer is also built up with adoration

and praise. Acknowledging and honoring and praising

God simply for who he is and his majestic attributes.

Scripture is full of this and we can also use

these as our own if when we don't have words

ourselves we can use scripture. So 1 Chronicles

29, 11, yours Lord is the greatness and the power

and the glory and the majesty and the splendor.

Revelation 4, 11, you are worthy our Lord and

God to receive glory and honor and power for

you created all things and by your will they

were created and have their being. We are just

simply adoring God, recognizing the greatness

and the goodness of who he is. Prayers of Thanksgiving,

expressing gratitude to God for his blessings,

faithfulness in the things he's done. Thanksgiving

is transformative. There are whole studies out

there right now about what gratitude does to

change your brain chemistry, right? I lived in

negativity constantly and I realized at one point

I was really unpleasant to be around because

I just, you know, in my mind thought I was seeing

the world realistically. There's just being really,

really negative. And there's a difference between

being realistic and just being like the whole

outlook on life is just everything is falling

apart. And so I changed my practice and my focus.

I started practicing thanksgiving, recognizing

all that God had done in me and around me and

others' lives, and that I have the life I do,

and that God's love is a core piece of it, that

I have the community I do. And then it made me

really grateful to see that for other people.

When I'd see good things happening for other

people, I was grateful on their behalf. Oh, isn't

that special that they have that? That's an amazing

experience. I'm so happy that that happened to

them. I'm so happy they got this opportunity.

The more gratitude and the thanksgiving you offer

to God, you start seeing reasons to thank God

everywhere around you. God's goodness is so full

in this world. And even for the things that we

don't recognize, but just probably know, I think

God really protected us through that experience.

I'm so grateful. And so it was because I saw

this in other people, a deep gratitude for God's

work in this world, even when it wasn't their

desired outcome. They were able to see past it

to God's wholeness and fullness around them.

I started practicing that too. And so First Chronicle

1634, give thanks to the Lord for he is good,

his love endures forever. First Thessalonians

6, 16 through 18, rejoice always, pray continually,

give thanks in all circumstances for this is

God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Next we have

intercession, which is literally just going to

God on somebody else's behalf. It's standing

in the gap to pray for others, for other people,

for communities. This is what we do when we pray

for Greenbush. We are interceding on Greenbush's

behalf. For the people in that neighborhood who

may not even know that there's a God who loves

them, we are interceding for that neighborhood

when we pray for them. Even for nations in the

world for people groups everywhere we intercede

and so first Timothy 2 1 says I urge then first

of all that petitions prayers and intercession

and Thanksgiving be made for all people Also

an incredible example is in John The end of John

when Jesus prays for his followers when they

go into the garden in the book of John Jesus

prays for his disciples in ways They do not yet

know how to pray for themselves because they

had not yet seen what was ahead. Prayers of confession,

setting our hearts in a right position towards

God, humbly acknowledging and asking for forgiveness

for sins and shortcomings before God. 1 John

1 .9, if we confess our sins, he is faithful

and just and will forgive us our sins. Psalm

51 .3 is a distinct prayer. I know my transgression

and my sin is ever before me. Confessing that

before God is healing. Lament. This is pouring

out raw and passionate grief and sorrow or even

frustration to God. This is where your disappointment

goes. What do we do with our disappointment?

What do we do when our hope is broken? We lament.

There is a place for this too. And so Psalm 13,

one through four, how long, oh Lord, will you

forget me forever? How long will you hide your

face from me? How long must I wrestle with my

thoughts? And day after day have sorrow in my

heart. How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, Lord my God, give light

to my eyes or I will sleep in death and my enemy

will say I have overcome him and my foes will

rejoice when I fall. That is a heart that has

been broken. It was a heart that is not seeing

the outcome that they had hoped for. And so there

is a place in talking to God called lament. God

is not afraid of our disappointment, our pain,

our anger. He invites it. There's the prayer

of faith, which is praying with absolute trust

and belief in God's power and willingness to

act, particularly for healing. James 515 says,

and the prayer offered in faith will make the

sick person well. Again, I understand that there

are complications. This goes back to ask and

you will receive. Is it that simple? It's a hard

one. But we are invited to have great faith when

we pray. We are invited to put our full faith

in God. Corporate prayer. This is often what

we do together when we say our prayers for life

or the Lord's Prayer. These are great to do.

Believers praying together in unity, putting

our voices together, facing the same direction.

Matthew 18, 20, for where two or three are gathered

in my name, I am there with them. And then I

offer prayers in the spirit, which could be any

of these, honestly, but prayers in the spirit

are what you, what often people call praying

in tongues. Acts 10, 44 through 46. While Peter

was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit

came on all who heard the message. The circumcised

believers who had come with Peter were astonished

that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured

out even on Gentiles, for they heard them speaking

in tongues and praising God. And there have been

examples of people praying in the Spirit, and

not necessarily knowing what they're praying,

but it is example of the Spirit also interceding

with them. And Jesus knows our heart. So these

are all examples of prayer that we find in the

Bible. And none of them are magic bullets. Prayer

is not a magic box we open. It is not meant to

be a spell. Prayer, when done persistently over

time, develops depth and fullness and width in

our relationship with God. And it grows and transforms

us. So much so that over the long arc of our

lives, when things don't go as we had hoped,

we are not crushed in spirit, but we also see

the long arc of God's presence with us. This

is what persistence in prayer guides us to. And

as I said, prayer helps us walk longer in uncertainty.

It helps strengthen our muscles of hope and trust.

It develops a truthful view of God. and many

more things that if you talk to people who have

been believers a long time, they will tell you

all the other ways that a persistent life of

prayer has altered them for good and has changed

their relationship with God. So consider if your

prayer life is well -rounded. Is it simply supplication?

Is it simply asking for things when they come

to mind? And when God doesn't respond in the

way you had hoped, do you give up? Or is it a

part of an ongoing, open line of communication

in your life in which you and the Lord are walking

together, talking along life's way, not just

with asking for things, but telling the Lord

who he is to you, praising him, lamenting when

your heart breaks, going to God on behalf of

others? You will find that as your ear tunes

to God, you will also hear God telling you things

he just adores about you too. And you see where

doors are open for you to walk through because

he has led you there as you continue to communicate.

God will also show you who needs extra encouragement

today. He will guide your steps to the places

you need to go. And so if you don't know where

to start, because it can feel a little overwhelming,

where were all those words we just said a few

minutes ago? If praying beyond what you've done

so far feels like a vast open space, I want to

talk about some ways that you can pray. There

are tools that you can use. And this is not an

exhaustive list. It is actually really fun to

just search for all these various tools and ways

that people have developed to help give you what

you need to pray. Because prayer's been a part

of this thing that we do in following Jesus since

day one, right? It's been a part of this relationship

with God since day one. People throughout history

have led the way for us, and it's okay to use

these tools. Some people have written prayers

down and they have stuck with us. We still pray

the Lord's Prayer today Jesus gave us actual

words that we still recite it because it is great

for us to use those words But there are so many

other tools that help us when we feel stuck or

aren't sure when to start where to start So I'm

gonna give you a bunch of things. It'll be up

on the screen. Take a picture of it if you want

to um Truthfully, if you grew up Catholic, there's

going to be some really familiar things here

because the Catholic Church has a very long history

of providing some really, really useful tools

in an age where people were not widely literate.

And so they came up with great methods to help

people stay in the story and stay in the faith.

If you grew up Protestant, you became more familiar

with what's known as expository prayer. It's

prayer that is open and conversational. There's

a specific freedom to it that invites you to

say exactly what's on your heart. And what a

blessing that God invites us to speak with him

so freely. But sometimes we need help and sometimes

we do get tired and sometimes we do feel lost

and sometimes we need support. And sometimes

we need tools to help us get going, and sometimes

we need to help. We need help knowing what to

say, because the words are gone. We feel lost.

So let's talk through a few of these. Prescribed

prayers. These are prayers already written down,

already locked in. Prayer can be done today right

now, and we do it regularly here at the house

in ways that are prescribed as well as expository.

We say our prayers for rest. We say our prayers

to live. We say our prayers for work. We have

a prayer for belonging. We have the Lord's Prayer.

These are all already written down, and we can

use them for our own spiritual benefit. There

are also seasonal guides that I really like.

Books right like I always show up with a lot

of books So this is a seasonal guide for prayers

for autumn and wintertime I really like these

as a guide through certain times of year And

they are a mix of scriptures that have been modified

to become prayers They are pre -written prayers

from the history of the church, but you can take

a look at this after services if you'd like Praying

scripture can be such a help you have a whole

Bible full of good words, and there is always

something in there that reflects the human experience

you are going through. The Psalms are a great

place to start. They're almost all prayers, and

so if we took Psalm 23 and modified it as a prayer,

it might go, Lord, you are my shepherd. I lack

nothing. Help me rest in the green pastures and

besides quiet waters that you lead me to. knowing

that you want to refresh my soul. Even though

I walk through the darkest valley, help me fear

no evil, remembering that you are with me. Your

shepherd's rod and your staff will comfort me.

Remember that the scriptures are for you. They

are there available to be used, not just to read,

but to utilize. Use them as prayer if you want

to. Simple or formatted prayers. little devices

and helps along the way that are great. Anne

Lamott is one of my favorite writers and she

says that the three simplest prayers you can

pray are help, thanks, wow. I really like. God

help, thanks for, amazing. You are so good. Help,

thanks, wow. She has a little book on this, which

I think I have up here as well. Yes. outlined

with simple acrostic -type reminders. I'll put

one up here. This was one that I learned when

I was a fairly new Christian. Who's seen this

one before, the axe one? Yes. This is great.

We've got kids in the room, and this is a really,

really useful one. How do we spell the word axe?

A -C -T -S. We remember to adore God, which then

leads us to confession. then takes us to Thanksgiving,

and we end with supplication after we have poured

our praise onto the Lord. What a great little

help. Acts. Take a picture of this if it's helpful.

Another one. I really like this one. It's called

the five -finger prayer. This was actually new

to me in the last, I don't know, not too long.

But you go through your hand, and it's a meditative

guide for... prayer for intercessory prayer,

where each finger represents someone to pray

for. So the thumb, you pray for those who are

closest to you. Next, you pray for the teachers

and the mentors and the leaders that are helping

point the way for you. Middle finger is tall,

and it's where you remember to pray for those

that are in leadership and authority. Your ring

finger, if you have ever tried to move your ring

finger, the other fingers come with it usually.

It's our weakest finger and it reminds us to

pray for the vulnerable in society. Then your

pinky finger is you. You pray for yourself. So

what a great little tool, right? This is great

for kids. Both this one and an axe are both really

good tools for kids. I want to talk about the

examine. I have another book on that. Saint Ignatius

of Loyola was a Spanish priest and founder of

the Jesuit Order. He was born in the late 1400s

in Castile in Spain. He grew up in leadership

and became quite influential in the Catholic

Church as the leader of the Jesuit Order. But

he was a former soldier and Ignatius paid particular

attention to the spiritual formation of his recruits.

And in 1548, when he was in his 50s, he had lived

a little bit of life. He recorded his method

in the spiritual exercises, which are a set of

meditations and contemplations and prayers. And

then over time, this just became a really good

tool and got used over and over and over again.

So now we have it. And this method of prayer

is now recognized as the examine. And I really

do love it. It takes you through some reflections

as well. Again, you start with gratitude. Thank

you for all the gifts in my life, God, for everything

I've received today. It moves you into grace,

where you ask God to shine light on the day and

help me to see the day and others through God's

eyes. And then we reflect. Where was God today?

And how and where did I turn away from God? So

opportunity for reflection and even confession.

And then we ask pardon. Please forgive me for

turning away at these moments. And then we resolve

to amend. Who do you want me to be tomorrow?

Who do you want me to care for tomorrow? What

do you want me to be mindful of tomorrow? So

it's a reflection on the day you have lived,

who you were in it, did it honor God, and how

can you grow tomorrow? I really, really love

it. The ancient Celts have... They're known for

like the Celtic way of prayer. But what I really

love about the Celtic way of prayer, it's not

a specifically prescribed thing as much as it's

a prayer in the ordinary. This is such a good

reminder because we have the prayers that we

think like I can't ask for prayer for that because

this is not a big deal. But it is a big deal

because everything is a big deal. Our whole lives

in him, we live and we move and we have our being.

We need to pray about the ordinary. And in fact,

when we think that God is not in the ordinary,

then we come to believe that God is not in parts

of our lives and isn't interested. And that is

just a lie. That's a part of the fallacies that

we need to address when it comes to prayer, right?

We need to come to terms with the fact that God

is in every detail and cares about all of it.

And so they had prayers for everything, rather

than separating spirituality from their lives

and their chores and the mundane tasks, they

instead turned them into opportunities for prayer.

Thanks to you, O God, that I have risen today

to the rising of life itself, even as I clothe

my body with wool, cover my soul with the shadow

of your wing. May you have walls for the wind,

and a roof for the rain and drinks beside the

fire, laughter to cheer you and those who love

near you and all that your heart may desire.

The counts are great with little rhymes too.

I was with someone this last week and she showed

me this prayer cross that she keeps in her pocket

and handily Brie figured this out really easily.

She was like, this feels like it should go in

your hand. And it does. And so she carries it

around in her pocket. So that while she's going

about her daily tasks, this is sitting in her

pocket and she's tending to, she runs an Airbnb,

so she's tending to like the hospitable things

and the cooking and whatever and every time she

puts her hand in her pocket she grabs the cross

and it reminds her that God is in the ordinary.

God is walking with her through the ordinary.

And we could stand to remember that there are

no corners of our life that God is outside of.

God is in the making of our bed. God is in the

cleaning of our toilets. God is in the vacuuming

of our floors and in the washing of the windows

and of the pruning of the shrubs and the maintenance

of the car. God is in all of it. And then there

are physical prayers, and I really enjoy these

because it engages our bodies. Who has ever seen

a labyrinth before? Is this a familiar image?

Yeah. So labyrinths, I love how these came about.

So a physical walking meditation that acts as

a metaphor for the spiritual journey. It consists

of a single winding path leading to a central

rosette and then back out again. These developed

as a spiritual alternative to dangerous pilgrimages

to the Holy Land. Traveling to Jerusalem was

very popular for a while. You just get people

who are just constantly traveling to the Holy

Land, making pilgrimage. And at some point, it

became a very dangerous thing to do. And so instead

of traveling from northern England all the way

to Jerusalem, this allowed people, so these started

showing up in cathedrals or in gardens. They

started constructing labyrinths as a spiritual

pilgrimage, allowing worshippers to pray with

their feet while journeying to the center. So

the most famous one is in Chartres Cathedral

in France from the year 1201, so quite early.

But you don't have to travel to France to experience

the labyrinth. This is what it looks like in

Chartres. You could see the people and how big

this labyrinth really is on the floor of that

cathedral. It's also a giant cathedral. There

is actually a really cool website. I just found

this yesterday called labyrinthlocator .org.

labyrinthlocator .org. And if you are looking

for a labyrinth experience, there are a few in

the Quad Cities. Locally, I discovered there's

one in East Moline. It's a grass, it's a garden

one. And then there's more of a nature reflection

kind at Olinoek Forest Preserve. That one's made

with stones. And then Our Lady of the Prairie

out west of here on I -80 also has one, and all

of them are visitable. There are even small versions

that can be done, like these labyrinths, like

you can print them on a piece of paper and trace

them with your hand. Or there's even those that

are like engraved in wood, and you can follow

it as a meditation. as you pray through something,

you move in towards the center, and then you

go out from there. But this is, like, there are

other prayers of movement, and I think of, like,

this is something up Robyn's alley, but, like,

there are prayers that include movement, like

dance. And so there are so many cultures and

communities in the world that enjoy dance so

well. They do it well. It's well incorporated

into their communities. And dance is, for them,

as much a form of communication as the spoken

word, that each movement has meaning to it. And

I think of indigenous communities in the Americas

that still use dance for their own religious

ceremonies. And then for those people, when they

move and they meet Jesus, They simply move their

forms of communication to the creator into their

new lives in Christ. And so many of us could

learn about prayer through the freedom of that

kind of movement. Last few, breath prayers. They

have a very physical and self -regulating component

to them. Who is familiar with the idea of using

breathing as a method of self -regulating? Are

we aware? Yeah. And so you can use that as an

opportunity to pray. The breath out is to release

something, and the breath in is to accept something

from God. So you breathe out, and you think,

I receive your love. Or you could do it in reverse,

I guess. Breathe in, I receive your love. Breathe

out, I release my insecurity. Breathe in, I receive

your joy. I breathe out, I release my unhappiness.

These are great. Exercises even when you're finding

yourself anxious, frustrated, agitated, breath

prayer, focus on God as breath, the Numa, the

spirit of God, and use that as an opportunity

to pray. And lastly, prayers of the community

and the benefits of the community when it comes

to learning how to pray. We learn how to pray

by being around others that know how to pray.

When I was just coming up in my early years of

my faith, I was going to a youth group and I

listened to my pastor and how my pastor prayed.

And then I listened to those other students and

how they prayed and the things that they were

concerned about. And that's how I learned how

to pray, by being around other people that were

praying. And so praying communally, and with

others out loud has great value. When we hear

our friends pray for the Green Bush neighborhood,

don't we learn from them in addition to finding

ourselves agreeing with them? When we are around

those that have spent the last 70 years of their

lives talking and listening to God, don't we

pick up something new and energizing from them?

Aren't we encouraged by them? Aren't we also

emboldened by them? We realize that saying certain

things out loud is okay saying certain things

to God is okay. We learn from each other And

so saying prayers in the community out loud or

alongside others is really really good And so

these are all tools. These are all available

to you And that was a lot so I don't expect you

to walk out of here and being like I remember

all of those no way um, but maybe Maybe one of

those grabbed your attention, and you want to

utilize it this week. And it's refreshing, or

it's an idea that you're being reintroduced to,

and you're like, I had forgotten about that,

and I really like that method. But try one of

those out this week if you're feeling like, I

don't really know where to start. Use a tool,

because it's available to you. And so in closing,

I want to read this passage again, Matthew 7,

7 through 11. ask and it will be given to you,

seek and you will find, knock and the door will

be opened to you, for everyone who asks receives,

and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who

knocks, the door will be opened. This passage

reminds us that the way to God is open. The door

will open, God will be found, God desires to

give you good things. It's not so much in the

asking so that you get, but the fact that we

can present ourselves to the holy God of the

universe and know that we are welcome. We are

welcome. What a gift. Seek and you will find.

Knock and the door will be open to you. You will

not be denied access. to God. Keeping prayer

present and being persistent with it keeps us

connected. And as we go from today, remember,

the way is open to you. Let's pray. God, I am

grateful that when we knock at the door, you

do not keep it shut. waiting for us to do all

sorts of things in order to gain access. You

have already told us that if we just come to

the door, if we ask, if we seek, you will be

found. If we ask, you will respond. If we knock,

the door will be opened. You are not denying

us access. And so as we step forward in the hopes

of growing as people of prayer, as a community

that looks to you in prayer. I pray that we're

encouraged today and that if there were things

that were heavy on our hearts and may have hit

some sore spots, I pray that you speak to those

things, that you heal those things in us, that

you give us bravery to keep trying and to keep

coming to you with our whole selves, whether

it's with supplication and asking for things

for us or laments because we're disappointed.

We're interceding for somebody else or we're

just coming with you because we're grateful.

I'm grateful to know that in all these things,

you will not turn us away. So help us grow and

help us be bold and help us come to you. I pray

this in your name. Amen.