March 1, 2026
Finding the Words
1 Samuel 1:9-20, Luke 11:1-13
Rev. Shannon Jordan
Jesus 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.” So he said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, may your name be revered as holy.
May 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 out of friendship, 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 asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asked for an egg, would 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!”
What do you pray when your words just don’t seem to express your heart? What do you do when a dear friend or family member is diagnosed with the unthinkable? What do you pray when the news wakes you up to a bad dream? What do you do when it seems that words just won’t be enough?
What do you do when you don’t know what the right prayer is, when the situation is complicated? When you don’t know what prayer to pray? This morning we will be talking about prayer—specifically some of the hardest prayers. The 1 Samuel passage showed Hannah praying her heart and I can feel the desperation, the desire, and the on-going disappointment, yet here she is again, praying.
As many of you have heard me say, one of my father’s primary spiritual gifts is intercessory prayer. He loves to pray for people and always seems to have the right words. You may have someone in your life like that. If you are one of those amazing intercessors, thank you. I know we have wonderful ones on our prayer team. If this is you and you want to try the group one week, please let me know! It is such a meaningful ministry here at FPCA. For those who aren’t sure what to say or how, this is something we can learn to do.
When we see someone with a rich prayer life and the peace and grounded-ness they have, many of us want that as well. I imagine the disciples see this in Jesus and know the impact prayer has on him—so they ask him to teach them about prayer. Prayer was absolutely a key part of life for faithful Jews. There were prayers to be prayed daily, and one, the Amidah, was prayed three times a day and the Lord’s Prayer was seen as very tied to the Amidah. Luke highlights Jesus’s prayer life with four instances of Jesus going to pray before the disciples ask here.
You may note as I read our passage the differences between what we regularly say here in worship and what I read. What we say is closer to the Matthew version. The Gospel of Matthew had a more Jewish audience whereas Luke was writing to a predominantly Gentile audience.
When we pray the Lord’s prayer, there are a few things to note. First, Jesus starting the prayer with Father was key to the Gentile audience. This phrasing was teaching about the character of God who hears our prayer. The Gentile or more Greco-Roman culture was about a father who had total control over his children and grandchildren. Their understanding of a father was different than a Jew’s. For example, he could decide for a newborn if it would be raised by the family, sold, or if it would be killed. This prayer introduces God to the Gentiles in a way that shows God as a loving parent who is generous and attentive to our needs. It was a relationship of love, not fear. [1]
Luke’s prayer continues with a link to the Amidah that his Jewish audience would pick up on when it starts with God’s name being hallowed or holy. As we have talked about before, the name of God was more than just the name, but what the name stands for—God’s way of being in the world. Jesus teaches them to pray for God’s way, for God’s kingdom, to come.
Like the prayer we regularly pray, Jesus prays for daily bread, to experience neither want nor excess. We pray for what we need to sustain us in the daily struggle. In that era it would have been heard like daily rations for a soldier.
In one commentary, this opening is described as a “single ardent call for the kingdom in which God’s name is hallowed and all have what they need.” [2]
If you pair this with the following parable about someone going to a friends to ask for bread to give to someone else, it makes this section even richer. Reading these together highlights God’s desire that all have what they need, that it is our role to help see when we need to intercede on someone else’s behalf. While many Bibles title this parable persistent prayer, we need to notice and remember that it is not about being persistent in what I WANT, but what others NEED. [3] We can ask for ourselves, but the focus much of the time should be for others. The Greek makes it clear that this asking is to be shameless. It is a bit pushy and rude. You are imposing on a friend to feed someone else.
The next parable that says everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and everyone who knocks, the door will be opened, and that like a child asking a loving parent that God will give us good gifts. Wow, I like that part.
While we want to stop at the “promise” that everyone who asks, receives, and I want those good gifts, we know that isn’t how it works. From the beginning of time there has been that tension between the ideas that God is good, God is all powerful and can fix anything, and the bad things we ask God to fix that God doesn’t for some reason. We all have or know prayers that seemingly aren’t being answered. Our final verse answers this question. “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 good gift, the best gift, we can receive when things look bleak, is the Holy Spirt. The Holy Spirit makes all of the difference. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts to share with others and gives us fruits that improve our own lives. Our world needs these fruits—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, and self-control. God is at work and answering prayers even when we can’t see it or understand it.
I chose this image on our bulletin cover as a visual reminder that we can’t always see what God is doing, but God is always acting. God is always working from a place of love and justice and righteousness. We can trust that. Seeing God or God’s will or God at work is like seeing glimpses of reflections on water. Sometimes it is super clear, other times it is impossible to see due to the choppiness of the water or the lighting, or the angle. Not seeing a reflection doesn’t mean God isn’t there. Paul mentions seeing the reflection of God at work in 1 Cor. 13:12 For now we see only a reflection, as in a mirror, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.
These disciples, when they asked Jesus to teach them how to pray, weren’t taught the theology of prayer, but Jesus gave them words to use—and as they learned them, they could use them when words became hard to find—and we can use these same words when we are uncertain about where God is in the midst of our current situation. The early church encouraged disciples to pray this prayer three times a day. Three times a day they were encouraged to remember that God is a loving parent. That God is not constrained by our world but constrained our world in creation.
That God’s way is holy.
To align our wills with God’s will and this world with God’s.
To ask for what we need and for what others need.
To remember to take what we need and avoid excess and to trust in God’s economy there is enough.
To recognize that we need forgiveness and we need to forgive.
Praying this prayer three times a day can reshape our brains and our perspectives of the world. When we say this prayer, thoughtfully, or even mechanically, a part of us tunes in to the hearer of the prayer—tunes in to God. Who God is and God’s perspective. When you aren’t sure what to pray, try this prayer.
The Psalms are also wonderful to use when you don’t have the words. A third of them are laments—prayers of pain and suffering, angst and anger. A quick google search can help you find several.
If none of these feel right, that’s OK. Romans 8:26 says the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes [a] with groanings too deep for words. We don’t need words.
There are other prayer practices. As many of you know, I am a huge proponent of Centering or Contemplative Prayer. For me, who likes to control and fix and help and act, it is a daily reminder to trust God. To sit with God and let God do what God wants to do. It is sitting down for 20-30 minutes a day and actively trusting God. When my mind wanders, I gently bring it back to God. As Thomas Keating teaches, if I have to refocus on God 100 times during my 20 minutes, that is 100 times I practiced turning to God. A powerful thing to practice.
The way I most often pray for others seems to be echoed in Hannah’s praying in 1 Samuel. She is not praying in a way that would impress Eli, but to a God who loves her and hears her. When we pray, it isn’t as much about the words but intentionally turning to God. When I don’t know how to pray for a person or situation, when I don’t know what is best for that person or situation (and let’s be real, I never do!) is to mentally lift them to the power of a loving God and sit with God and that prayer. Don’t rush it. Sit with it. Lift that person or situation up to the God who does know what is best and is working for good.
I read another way many pray this week—and I bet some of our choir members do it. This week I read about Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist, and then did some research on her. She and other activists were on their way home from a freedom ride and stopped in Winona, Mississippi for food. They were unlawfully refused service and then arrested for sitting in the “white only” side of the bus station. They were thrown into county jail where they were brutally beaten. The youngest in the group, June Johnson, was only 15. Fannie Lou received permanent injuries from her beatings. The story I read was that when Fannie Lou was returned to her cell, and was in excruciating pain, she immediately started trying to comfort the others. What did she use to comfort others? A song that she used as prayer. Walk with me Jesus. Walk with me Jesus. Walk with me Jesus.
There are seasons of our lives that are incredibly hard. Our prayers are so massive that we can’t find the words. First, know God doesn’t need the words. You can sit in God’s embrace and imagine God holding you like a loving parent. God promises that the Holy Spirit will be with us and in Hebrews we are reminded that Jesus promised to never leave us or forsake us that we can say with confidence,
“The Lord is my helper;
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?”
We don’t need all of the words. We only need to remember we have a God that is with us through the power of the Spirit. Jesus suffered greatly and understands what we are going through. When we wonder “what should I pray?” that it isn’t about the words, but the hearer of our hearts.
Please pray with me as we sing this next hymn—the hymn they sang in that jail cell.
[1] 1 https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-17-3/commentary-
on-luke-111-13-5
[2] 2 Justo L. González, Luke, Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville: Westminster John
Knox Press, 2010), 143.
[3] 3 Gonzolas, Luke, 143.