September 22,2024

Philippians 4:6-7

Acts 2:41-47

Rev. Kristen J. Kleiman

‘Pray about everything. Thank God for everything. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.’ (unknown)

I don’t remember where I read this version of Philippians. It has stuck with me though. ‘Pray about everything. Thank God for everything. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.’

The Message translation says, when we pray, we experience “a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good”. Prayer settles us down and wonderful things happen when “Christ displaces worry at the center of [our lives].” (The Message, Philippians 4:6-7)

Sounds wonderful to me and yet, most people don’t feel peace and calm about praying, especially praying out loud. Many people instead feel anxious about prayer; however prayer doesn’t have to be spoken in some special fancy language. It doesn’t have to have “thee’s” and “thou’s” in it like it’s from the time of King James I. It doesn’t have to be flowing poetry like the prayers written by Helen Steiner Rice. Prayer doesn’t have to be confident and bold like a revival preacher. Prayer can just be talking. Prayer is just talking.

If I asked you, how did your morning go? You might respond, ‘I forgot to set the alarm and I woke up late and everything has felt chaotic since.’ Or you might say, ‘I had a delightful morning. The sun was bright and my goodness the birds were chirping away like crazy.’ Or you might even have this burden to share, ‘I got bad news this morning…’

All of those things said to God, all of that talking when shared with God, is prayer. Talking to God is prayer.

And you can talk to God anytime, anywhere, in any way. You can chitchat. You can be angry and scream. You can cry and be sad. You can be thankful and in awe of how good life is in that moment. You can be brief or even scatterbrained- jumping from thing to thing.

You can talk to God anytime, anywhere, in any way and find peace as you release the thoughts ping ponging around your mind, the worries filling your heart, the burdens weighing down your shoulders.

When we talk to God, we find peace as we are reminded we are not alone. You are never alone. God and Jesus are our faithful companions, always there and ready to listen. To echo the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, take it all to the Lord in prayer. Talk it all out. All of it – the good, the bad, the ugly, the routine and mundane.

Pray about everything. Talk to God about everything. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.

When we listen to God, the peace goes a level deeper.

Decades ago, the United Church of Christ, inspired by words said to the Pilgrims as they departed for the new world and by a quote from the comedienne Gracie Allen, the UCC adopted the slogan “God is still speaking…” It’s true. God is talking to us all the time. In every moment, God is surrounding us with words of love and affirmation. In every moment, God is guiding us on our path and in our decision making. God is continuously answering our words, continuing the conversation.

When we listen, when we set aside intentional time to listen to God, we begin to hear God in all of those moments. We experience God’s wholeness as we live in connection, in communication with God. Prayer settles us down, displacing the worry, frustration, anxiety, and stress that are too often at the center of our lives. Listening to God brings us peace.

It takes time and discipline to hear God’s still speaking voice though, and we are not all there on our faith journeys. Not there yet. Not there today. And that’s just the way it is. Still, there is great peace to be found in just being silent, in being still, in being open to God. If you don’t feel like God has ever spoken to you or spoken to you as clearly as you wish, keep listening.

Prayer is talking to God. Prayer is listening to God. Prayer is trusting God. Trusting that when you talk to God that God is listening, that God cares, that God is encouraging you and guiding you along a path that leads to wholeness and a peace that exceeds anything we can understand.

Prayer is trusting that when you don’t know what to do about a situation or for someone, that God does. Prayer is trusting that God is taking care of those people and situations. Prayer is trusting that God’s abilities far exceed our own. Prayer is trusting that God is love and that God loves all. God loves all.

The Christian community of Acts 2 devoted themselves to prayer. They encouraged one another to talk to God. They created physical and spiritual spaces for listening to God.   And as they turned everything over to God, as they shared every worry and anxiety and thanksgiving, they came to discover God’s wholeness coming into their minds, their hearts, their lives, and settling them down.

Their lives were completely changed, their relationships were completely changed, their community was different, when Christ displaced the worry at the center of their lives. (The Message, Philippians 4:6-7) They came to know a peace that exceeds anything we can imagine or understand. A peace that just is. A peace that fills us and makes us whole in a way we never knew before.

Prayer is simple: Talk, Listen, Trust.

Prayer is persevering, as we talk, listen, trust, and repeat, over and over and over.

Prayer is powerful, forever changing our lives, forever changing our relationships, forever changing our community, forever changing our world.

‘Pray about everything. Thank God for everything. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.’ (unknown)