“The Expectation of Prayer”

Philippians 4:4-7

December 17, 2006

St. Paul United Methodist Church

Rev. John A. Fleming

One of my hopes for us these days before Christmas and way beyond them is that we will take our Christian task seriously of praying for others, something we have come to call intercessory prayer.

This is my fifth Christmas season with you and so by now you know that for me it just isn’t Christmas until I have watched, at least once, my favorite movie, It’s a Wonderful Life. The movie, you will remember, is the story of George Bailey and what happens to him one Christmas. The bank examiner is in town and the receipts for the family owned business, The Bailey Building and Loan, are eight thousand dollars short.

There are a lot of lessons in the movie. This year I discovered a new one. As the movie opens, a camera pans through the various buildings in downtown Bedford Falls. Snow is falling from the heavens while prayers for George Bailey are being lifted up. George’s friends and neighbors know he is in trouble and so they pray. Here are a few of their prayers: “I owe everything to George Bailey. Help him, dear Father.” Here is another one, “Joseph, Jesus and Mary, be with my friend Mr Bailey.” George’s mother prays, “Help my son George tonight.”

Another friend prays, “He never thinks of himself, Lord, that’s why he’s in trouble. George is a good guy, Lord, give him a break.” The love of his life, George’s wife, Mary, prays, “I love him, dear Lord, please watch over him tonight.” Then there is the prayer of one of his children. I think it is Zuzu, who prays, “Please God. Something’s a matter with daddy. Please bring daddy back.”

If you have seen the movie, then you know that after her prayer, the scene shifts toward the heavens. There is a conversation among, what you might call the administrative angels. One greets another and asks, “Hello Joseph. Is there trouble?” Joseph answers, “Yes, it looks like we will have to send someone down. A lot of people are asking for help for a man named George Bailey. The angel answers, “George Bailey. Yes. Tonight’s the crucial night. You are right.”

If George were in our church, we’d be quick, I hope, to offer up prayers for him. We would ask God to help him. We would request God to help him get out of the bind he was in. I don’t mind telling you that last year, this time of the year, as Christmas was getting closer, and my sister’s death hit me, it was your prayers for strength and courage that helped me through. I will never forget this church for what you did for me. You helped me make it. Praying for others is important.

Now let’s look at our scripture lesson for this morning. The Apostle, Paul, knows the power of praying for others. He writes these words to what many scholars have said was his favorite church. Other experts have called this letter an epistle of joy. Sixteen different times the word joy or rejoice is used. Eight different times describing his joy and eight different times describing what he knows is the Philippians’ joy.

To be honest with you, Paul doesn’t have much of a reason to be joyful. Philippians, you see, is one of the prison epistles. Paul wrote it from a cell, the one we believe he never left.

Now there are many sermons in these four short verses. There is the call to rejoice. That’s always a good idea. There is the sermon about living our lives in such a way that our gentleness is known to everyone. There is the Christmas sermon about the Lord being near. Only next Sunday makes his coming closer than this Sunday. Is there anyone here today who could not benefit from another sermon on worrying? the Apostle writes, “Do not worry about anything....” It’s time to worry. Christmas day is right around the corner. Have you finished your shopping? Is Christmas eve dinner planned? Have you made sure that Christmas will be perfect for everyone in your life?

Those are all good sermons, but this morning, can I preach the one about prayer? Paul counsels the Philippian Christians, “....in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God...” Or as another version of this verse puts this, “...in every area of life let God know what you want...”

Now it seems to me that there are all kinds of prayers that we pray. Some of my prayers, are just for me. They are things that I want. They are things I think I need. They are my words of confession. They list my shortcomings and the places I have failed. These prayers are my hopes and dreams. They are the things that I want Jesus to do just for me. “Bless me, O God. Give me peace, O God. Help me, precious Savior.” These prayers are for my personal growth and my personal guidance. Some of my prayers are just for me.

There is another kind of prayer that is important. It’s the kind of prayers that the people of Bedford Falls prayed at the beginning of the movie. The prayers for George is a kind of prayer we call an intercessory prayer. Simply put, an intercessory prayer means praying for someone else. But there is more to it than that. An intercessory prayer is not simply mentioning someone else’s name while we are praying. Rather, it is praying with sincerity and with an intense desire that God will act for the good of some other person.

Just this week I heard the strange story of a seminary professor who had the reputation of being a person of prayer. In fact, he received several requests from his students and from complete strangers for him to put someone they loved on his list. It was a list you definitely wanted to be on!

One day he received a letter from a mother who was distraught about her daughter and the direction her life was going. She was trying everything, including being put on this guy’s prayer list. He wrote her back. He thanked her for her letter and her request, but these were his words, “I cannot pray for your daughter right now. But thank you for your request. I do not think I should have more people on my list than I can pay attention to in the daily time I devote to prayer. I mean business with all my powers of my mind and my spirit when I pray. When there’s a vacancy on my list, I will include your daughter.”

I don’t mind telling you that his response rubs me the wrong way but maybe it does because I don’t, your preacher, approach prayer with that kind of energy and confidence with I pray for others. I know I should and I am working towards it.

Did you know that we have an intercessory prayer team at this church? There are twenty-eight or so people who pray for everything from those who knows what death feels like to those who are waiting for good news, perhaps the birth of a baby. The church is included on the list as are the members of our staff.

This past week seventy different names were on the list. There’s another group who pray just for our children. There’s another group who pray just for our youth. These pray-ers are given one of our children’s names and the names of one of our youth and they pray.

I heard of a man who suddenly became convinced about the power of praying for others. He said, “If God, as we are told, has counted the hairs of each head, cannot see a sparrow fall to the ground without distress, then the prayers of his people must be important to him, whatever these prayers are. “

Now prayers of intercession are not about persuading God to do something God would not otherwise do. What they really are is our laying before God our sincere desire for the well being of others.

I would like to add that it is not until we pray that we really know what we want for ourselves and others. There is something about putting our desires into a prayer. Praying for the sick, James advised, is a way the church cares for others. His belief is that we have been given this gift by God. So we must not miss the call to pray for someone else. We pray not just for someone’s health when they are sick or their comfort when they are grieving. We also pray for one another’s faith and courage and wisdom and vision.

Down in the Harmony Grove Church is a woman whose name is Wanda O’Dell. Wand has had her share of tragedies. Her husband had a heart transplant and later died of cancer. Her daughter, Linda, had twins. One of the two didn’t make it. The other had serious problems, but was a great joy to me. That same daughter died at an early age. She was a mentor to Susie when Susie first began teaching school. One of Wanda’s daughters-in-law ( a United Methodist pastor) also died at a young age, of cancer.

Wanda taught me about perseverance. She also taught me about prayer. One of her lessons was that when someone crossed your mind, there was a reason for it. And to stop and to pray. I do that. A month or so ago tragedy hit her family again. One of her sons died suddenly. The funeral was on Sunday and so I couldn’t go. I wanted her to know that I was praying for her, so I called her on Monday morning. Her words were full of faith and courage. I expected that.

Near the end of our conversation, Wanda said to me, “John, I want you to know that I pray for you and your family every night. I have since you were our pastor.” I am glad there is room for me on her list.

Will you pray? Will you pray for one another? Will you lift one another and one another’s well being up to God? Of our members said to me recently, “Preacher, there is not much I can do for the church these days. But I can pray.” He did more for the church than he will ever know. And now let us pray together for one another.