Dear friends in Christ, in about two weeks Epiphany will conduct another 12-hour Prayer Vigil.  Saturday, October 14, our second Prayer Vigil of 2006 will be for all people and for all purposes, not just for the building program or funding.  October 14 is another chance for each of us to lay before the Lord the desires and concerns of our hearts.  Considering what we have seen once again here in Colorado this past week, we all need to pray more often and more fervently.

          Prayer is communion with God.  Today I've had a prayer card placed in each of your bulletins, and I want each of you who has one to fill out a request.  There are 200 bulletins, so I am hoping there will be 200 prayer cards in the offering baskets.  Yours may be a request for help, or a praise to God, or a thanksgiving.  Please make your prayers known and place them in the offering basket.  Please also sign up to attend the Prayer Vigil on the forms on the back table.

          In our age of wireless technology, Prayer is our direct and infallible connection with God on a channel that never fades.  I just recently was able to make my laptop wireless, so it doesn't need to be hooked up to the phone.  It now sends and receives messages through the invisible airwaves.  Don't ask me how, but it works.

          On this tiny "flash drive" I have stored 20 years worth of sermons, Bible studies, letters, programs, Confirmation materials, membership data, manuals, programs and everything done during my ministry - all on this little thing.  On this small cell phone I can call Africa, Asia, and with the right routing, even the space station.  This kind of technology should help us believe in God even more.  With such amazing human inventions, why should we not believe in God, and that He can do even greater things?

          God has given us the intelligence to come up with all this.

          With all this, prayer seems too simple.  In teaching His disciples to pray, Jesus said: "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites who love to pray being seen by men...  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen...  And when you pray, do not babble like the pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words..."

          Prayer is direct connection with God, our part of a conversation God started long ago when He gave us the Bible.  A lot has been written lately as to how the Bible came into existence.  Better we should learn what it says.  Reading the Bible and reading about the Bible are two different things.  The Bible is God's Word, and it's meant to be read, digested, internalized.  The Bible is the Word of life, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that gives eternal life to all who believe in Him.

          Prayer is our connection with the author.  I have several books in my library signed by the author.  Each and every Bible is also signed, signed by every miracle of Jesus, signed by every parable He spoke, by every sin He's forgiven, by every bit of history that shows His greatness.  God's signature shows up every time He answers prayer.

          How many of you participated in our last Prayer Vigil, or wrote out prayer cards?  Now, can you recall God's answering some of your prayers?  I certainly can.  I was concerned about our son's move to New York, so I wrote out a Prayer Card.  I was concerned about how people would respond to our funding appeal, so I wrote out a prayer card.  I asked God's help with all kinds of people and situations, and I am pleased to say He answered every one of those prayers.  Not all were answered, "Yes", but God did answer them all.

          God answers prayers in three ways: "Yes," "No," and "Wait."  God answers ALL the prayers of the believer.  He answers them in the best way, not always the way we are hoping for, but the best way.  God's answers are best, for us and for our loved ones.  One of the prayer cards I wrote was for Bernie Krueger, that his health would improve.  God answered that prayer in the best way, because Bernie's health is now perfect, as he lives in the eternal presence of God.  After hearing that some of you might hope I don't pray for your health.  But again, God's answers are the best, at the right time.

          James Gilmour, missionary to Mongolia, was once asked to treat wounded soldiers.  He only knew a little first aid, so he dressed the wounds of two men, but a third had a badly broken leg.  Gilmore had no idea what to do for such an injury, so kneeling beside the man, he asked the Lord for help.  To complicate matters, some beggars came to him right then asking for money. Hurriedly he gave them a small gift, and all left except one, a half-starved fellow, little more than a living skeleton - barely skin and bones.  Missionary Gilmore suddenly realized God had brought him a walking lesson in anatomy!  He examined the legs of the frail fellow, then returned to the soldier and was able to set his fracture.  Gilmour often related how God had provided him that day with a strange yet sufficient answer to his earnest prayer.

          One doesn't have to go to Mongolia to get answers to one's prayers.  God hears us no matter who we are or where we are.  And often His answers are not quite what we expect.  Prayer, like driving, needs to be practiced, not just read about or discussed.  There are tons of books out there on the meaning and helpfulness of prayer.  But all of them are worthless if we don't actually pray.  Last Christmas, my son gave me a book about the roots of prayer and its usage in many cultures.  It was interesting, but it didn't really tell me what I needed to hear, that prayer is communion with God and that God answers prayer.  That's not something for the sociologists, but for the believers.  That's something only the Bible can tell us.

          We have heard today's Gospel lesson often.  It's the Lord's Prayer.  Something we notice the Bible version doesn't have, though, is the ending, the doxology.  I believe that portion comes from our Old Testament lesson:  "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all." (1 Chronicles 29:11)   What wonderful words of King David as he praised God for the coming new Temple which would be built!  Somewhere along in history, Christians have added the ending to the Lord's Prayer that we say, "For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen!"

          James, our Lord's brother, tells us in today's New Testament Lesson, "Is any one of you in trouble?  He should pray.  Is anyone happy?  Let him sing songs of praise.  Is any one of you sick?  He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.  The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up." (James 5:13-15)

          Prayer is communion with God and it works!  That's as clear as we can make it.  The only time prayer doesn't work is when people don't pray.  It's guaranteed 100%.

          A small boy wanted $100.  He'd heard he could help build a church in India for $100, so he prayed for weeks, but nothing happened.  He decided to write a letter to God, requesting $100. When the Post Office got the letter addressed to "God, USA", they sent it to the President.  The President's secretary was so amused that she sent the little boy a $10 bill.  The little boy sat down and wrote God a thank-you note, which was also forwarded to the President.  He wrote, "Dear God, Thank you very much for the $10.  I wanted $100 but it came through Washington, D.C.  Those guys kept $90 bucks in taxes!"

          Prayer is our Communion with God, our wireless connection to Him.  God will always answer our prayers in Jesus' name.  I ask you to pray often, and I also ask you to please participate in our Prayer Vigil Saturday, Oct. 14.  God is waiting to hear from us, and He will answer, with no deductions!  Amen

Copyright © 2006 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.