"Lord, teach us to pray." That's the request that opens our Gospel reading for Sunday. It is, perhaps, a simple request, and yet it's a question we continue to wrestle with 2000 years later. How should we pray? Jesus begins by teaching his disciples what we have to come to know as the "Lord's prayer." But then he talks about asking with persistence, and trusting that the One to whom we pray knows how to give good gifts. 

There are many ways to pray, and many wonderful guides and models. We pray several times in worship, including a "prayer of the day" that draws on the themes of the readings, a prayer thanking God for the gifts we give in our offerings, a prayer thanking God for the gift of Holy Communion, and prayers of intercession that lift before God our hopes and concerns for the Church, the world, our leaders, and the vulnerable. Perhaps you've learned some prayers over the years for mealtimes our bed times. In fact, I'd wager a number of you could complete the prayer if I began "Come Lord Jesus, be our guest," or "Now I lay me down to sleep." There are some who use the word ACTS as a model for prayer, making sure each prayer they speak includes "adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication." Or there is a prayer that uses one's fingers to remind them who to pray for, remember those closest to us, those who point us in the right direction, those who stand tall, those who are weak, and finally ourselves.

All of these are good ways to learn how to pray, and I would tend to say that however your heart leads you to pray is the right way. But one of my favorite thoughts on prayer comes from a story about God's name. The sacred name God reveals to Moses consists of four Hebrew letters: Yod, He, Vav, and He. We tend to write them as YHWH. What is curious about these letters is that they are all "soft" letters, so instead of being sharply articulated. An ancient tradition holds that these letters taken together are the sound of breathing; that the proper name of God is spoken every time we inhale and exhale. If that is true, perhaps our whole lives are a prayer, and each breath a petition for God to be present in our thoughts, words, and deeds. 

Today, Beloved, May you take a moment to pause and simply breathe. And as you listen to the sound of air gently filling your lungs and returning to the world, may you know the presence of God, in you and with you, teaching you to pray with every breath.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Will