Ancient Prayers
A sermon by Ted Virts
June 9, 2013
Sonoma CA
Theme:
O Educator, be gracious to thy children, O Educator, Father, Guide of Israel, Son and
Father, both one, Lord. Give to us, who follow thy command, to fulfill the likeness of
thy image, and to see, according to our strength, the God who is both a good God and
a Judge who is not harsh. Do thou thyself bestow all things on us who dwell in thy
peace, who have been placed in thy city, who sail the sea of sin unruffled, that we
may be made tranquil and supported by the Holy Spirit, the unutterable Wisdom, by
night and day, unto the perfect day, to sing eternal thanksgiving to the one only
Father and Son, Son and Father, Educator and Teacher with the Holy Spirit...
Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD)
Scripture: Psalm 146
"I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long."
Psalm 146
Prayer has been called the essence of faith. Christian tradition has from the
beginning offered a variety of profound means to express and receive connection
with God, and to strengthen the life of your soul and spirit.
We move into Summer and the "now what" season of the church year, we are
looking at how our ancestors in the faith understood that faith, so that we don't drift
too far with our modern thinking and concerns. And prayer is central to that
understanding.
Last week we followed an early church order of worship described by Justin Martyr
in around 155 AD. Next week Rob Jones will lead us in a contemplation of what the
Christian journey meant then, and means now. In two weeks we will have a sung
worship service that lets the Sacred Harp (the Human Voice) lead us into the
experience of longing as expressed by the songs of the American Shape Note
tradition.
Today I want to spend some time on prayer, both ancient and modern.
I do want to remind you that the early church experience was just that: experience.
It wasn't laced with the worries of our time for data, fact and proof, and it assumed
that the human experience was just that: human - one size fits all. Neither of these
1
thoughts are part of our current tradition. In this time we think that data makes for
truth and that every story is unique.
As I mentioned last week religious experience has four parts to make it truly a
religious experience:
1) Religious experience is a response to what is perceived as ultimate. It is response,
not initiated or created. The believer perceives or senses that it is the Ultimate that
has entered into the experience that makes it religious.
2) Religious experience involves the whole person - mind and will and emotion and
body. Perhaps in differing intensity for each component. Religious experience is not
just a decision, a nice idea, a feeling or a "stirring of the heart."
3) Religious experience is characterized by peculiar intensity. Vague as this sounds,
it is essential - something unique and powerful has happened that is somehow
different from other important and meaningful experiences.
4) Religious experience results in action - an imperative, an "ought to do this" that is
appropriate to the experience. One can be moved by a symphony, but the response
does not effect the day to day actions of the hearer.
(Luke Timothy Johnson Religious Experience in Earliest Christianity, pg 60-64)
The underlying truth of prayer in Christian (and most other faith traditions) is that
prayer is relational: it is a response to One beyond us.
Across faith traditions there is a unifying collection of ideas that make prayer
(directing attention to One beyond us) or meditation (seeking to raise our
consciousness.




We are more than our own.
The love of an Other is our reason to be
Sin and error do not have final say
The source of human success is nearer than the pulse at our throats
(Carmody and Carmody Prayer in World Religions p 3)
We do not pray to ourselves. Prayer involves some trust in the One beyond us.
So let's talk:

What is prayer?

(quotes I may use: Augustine: "prayer is lifting the mind and heart to God."
and "we shall not injure God by remaining ignorant of him, but shall deprive
ourselves of his friendship")
2

Do you pray?

How?

What do you pray about or for?

What do you notice about prayer here, in this church?

Do you know any ancient prayers?

(actually you do: The Lord's prayer, Psalms, much of the bible has people
responding to God, to grace, to fear and more)

Favorites? What appeals to you?
There are a lot of ways to think about prayer. I want to offer a few, based on your
observations and on our tradition.
Prayer has always been both individual - you or me to God - and communal - all of us
in the form of ritual, liturgy and tradition.
Prayer forms are described in a variety of ways, of course. Prayer postures reflect
different types of prayer, and differing experiences often follow from the posture of
prayer (remember religious experience involves the whole person - and our bodies
are part of how we pray)
One way of thinking about types of prayer is the acronym "ACTS" : Adoration,
Contrition, Thanksgiving, Supplication.
You can also think of prayer as either Active: Something you do or say; or Passive,
something you wait for or receive.
As I looked through ancient prayers in preparation for today, I was struck that there
probably aren't ancient types so much - we still adore, confess, give thanks, plea and
ask.
Much like human conversation hasn't really changed across the millennia, we still
share information, stories, feelings, actions, and jokes - filtered through our culture,
of course.
3
I'm most intrigued though, by the idea that we have a personal spiritual "type or
personality" and the prayer that makes the most sense to us, matches our
spirituality type. The Upper Room has a brief survey that describes your spirituality
type (prayer-center.upperroom.org)
Very briefly, here are the types:

Mystic: known for your imaginative, intuitive spirituality. You value peace,
harmony, and inner silence.

Prophet: a crusader with a kingdom spirituality. You experience God best
through serving others.

Lover: a feeling type, whose spirituality comes primarily from the heart or
emotions. You value freedom, independence.

Sage: characterized by a thinking or head spirituality. You value
responsibility, logic and order.
note - the sermon did not include this exercise as time was getting short...
Let me show you what I mean. This exercise is from the Upper Room, and I'll hand
out some material as you exit this morning.
In a spirit of prayer I will offer 4 types of prayer in response the same scripture
quote
I'll read the quote, and give some "prayer" instructions. I invite you to follow the
instructions, but to note especially if there is one of the instructions that appeals to
you more than others. (If you have taken the Companions in Christ course, this may
be familiar to you)
Read John 3:16 before each instruction. God so loved the world that he
gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may
have eternal life.
- John 3:16 (NRSV)
1) Repeat this verse prayerfully as a way of focusing on God. Open your spirit
to the loving attitude of Jesus Christ who allowed himself to be given for our
salvation. Give yourself to the flow of God's boundless love for the whole world, a
love that flows in and through you. As people and situations come to mind, bring
them into the flow and allow them to be washed in God's boundless love. Finally,
carry some part of John 3:16 with you in your daily activities as a way of
practicing openness to God's love. Record your experience.
(mystic)
2) Think about what this verse means. Paraphrase the verse in a sentence or
two that capture the essence of its meaning for you. Then write a prayer to God
4
that expresses your thoughts about what God has done for us and why we need
what God has given to us.
(sage)
3) List several people you love and those you have difficulty loving. Read the
verse slowly for each person on your list, personalizing this verse as an
expression of God's love for him or her: "For God so loved (name) that he gave
his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have
eternal life." Include yourself. Pause to add your prayer for each person and to
pray for what you need in order to love that person. Notice any changes in you as
you affirm God's love for the person. Decide how you are going to express God's
love and your love to the people on your list. Record your experience. (lover)
4) Today you will not be seeking to understand, feel, or contemplate the love
described in this verse. Rather, be a living prayer today, an expression of God's
sacrificial love. As you are able, take a walk through your house, your workplace,
or your neighborhood. Bless everyone and everything you see with the words,
"For God so loved the world...." Where do you see a need for God's love?
Consider what Jesus would do in that situation, and choose a way to embody
God's love in action. Record your experience. (prophet)
Did you notice that the mood of the room changes when we are in silence, when we
focus on God?
Any insights into the prayer instructions and yourself?
the sermon concluded with these readings:
I want us to close today by being in silence for a few moments, and then I will read
three prayers from the very early church - one by Origen (184-254), one attributed
to Margaret of Antioch (? - 304 ) And one by St. Patrick (387-460?). May the spirit
of their prayer be our spirit as well. (Church and Mulry Earliest Christian Prayers)
Let us pray:
"May the Lord grant us to believe in the heart, to confess with the mouth, to confirm
with works that the covenant of God is in our flesh, that others seeing our good
works, might magnify our Father who is i heaven through Jesus Christ our Lord, to
whom is glory forever and ever." (Origen)
"O Lord God, Ruler of the heaven and of the earth, Creator of things visible and
invisible, Giver of eternal life and Consoler of the sorrowful, make me to stand firm
in the confession of thy name that as with thine aid I have begun the good fight, so
5
that with thine aid I may be deemed worthy to gain the victory, lest the adversary
spitefully mock at me, saying "Where is now her God in whom she trusted?"
But let the angel of thy light come and restore to me the light which the darkness of
my cell has taken from me: and let the right hand of thy magesty scatter the
phantom host s of the ancient enemy. For we know, O Lord, that thy mercy will aid
us in all temptations." (Margaret of Antioch)
May the strength of God pilot us.
May the power of God preserve us.
May the wisdom of God instruct us.
May the hand of God protect us.
May the way of God direct us.
May the shield of God defend us
May the host of God guard us.
-- against the snares of the evil ones,
--- against the temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us!
May Christ be before us!
May Christ be in us,
Christ be over all!
May thy salvation, Lord,
Always be ours,
This day, O Lord, and evermore. (St. Patrick)
6