sermon: pentecost 7 Luke 11:1–13

July 27, 2025 
Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church

Pastor Veronica Alvarez

We all know that prayer isn’t always easy. It’s not magic. It’s not a vending machine where you press a button, say the right words, and get exactly what you asked for. Sometimes we don’t know what to say. Sometimes we’re exhausted. And sometimes, we wonder if prayer even makes a difference.

Still, prayer is powerful. It’s real. It’s honest. And when it’s rooted in faith and persistence, prayer draws us closer to the God who listens, who responds, and who shows up.

That’s the message running through today’s readings: the boldness of faith. We’re reminded that we can come to God as we are, honest, persistent, even frustrated or uncertain. Because God isn’t far away. God isn’t fragile. God can handle our questions, our silence, our grief. God is faithful, merciful. And is always near.

Have your children ever negotiated with you? They want something really bad and keep asking you for it and giving you options of what they can do in return if you give it to them?? Mine used to do that.

In our first reading of Genesis 18 it gives us this almost uncomfortable scene: Abraham negotiating with God. Not once, not twice but six times.

Abraham doesn’t sit back and say, “Well, God will do what God wants.” He speaks up, for a whole city. He intercedes. He dares to say, “What if there are 50? 45? 40?” …That is not a polite, quiet prayer. It is bold, messy, persistent. And God doesn’t shut it down; God listens.

We’ve prayed like Abraham, desperate, pleading, bargaining. Maybe without realizing it, we’ve stood in that same bold faith. When we have prayed for your children who are struggling, who are caught up in addiction, or depression, or making decisions that scare us, we know what it is to plead like Abraham.

Or when someone in our community faces deportation or injustice, and we can’t do much but pray, we have done this too. we knocked on God’s door over and over, saying, “Lord, please. Lord, act.”

That is not weakness. That is faith. The kind of faith that knows God isn’t afraid of our persistence.

But it’s not just Abraham. The Psalmist shows us what happens when we cry out, too. The psalmist says, “On the day I called, you answered me; you increased my strength of soul.” That doesn’t mean the problem went away. It means they were strengthened in it.

Let’s name it: sometimes the answer to prayer isn’t a change in the situation; it’s the strength to get through the day without giving up.

Some of you are or have been caregivers, exhausted, unseen, and praying just to get through another week. Some of you are grieving, or angry at God, or just plain worn out. But somehow, you’re still here. That’s not accidental. That’s God showing up. Strengthening your soul when nothing else made sense.

Paul says we’ve been made alive in Christ. Our debt is canceled. Our shame, our guilt, it’s nailed to the cross. That means we don’t come to God as strangers or beggars. We come as beloved children.

So you don’t need fancy words. You don’t need to be perfect. You can pray with tears, with silence, with anger. And God will still meet you. Why? Because Jesus already made the way so we have that intimate relationship with God

 So when someone says, “I don’t know how to pray,” or when you feel like that, remember: you already belong to God. Just start talking.    

In the Gospel of Luke, the disciples see Jesus praying. Not performing miracles, not preaching, but praying. And one of them says to him, “Lord, teach us to pray.” They don't ask him for fame or success. They ask him for what really sustains everything: prayer.

And Jesus responds with what we now know as the Lord's Prayer. He doesn't give them an elegant prayer. He gives them a clear, simple, and profound prayer. He teaches them to talk to God as someone who truly loves them:

• When we say “Father,” we say, “You know me, you see me, you love me as I am.”

• When we ask for daily bread, we trust: “Lord, help me today, do not abandon me.”

• When we ask for forgiveness, we acknowledge that we fail, but we also affirm that forgiving others is part of the journey.

This prayer is not for the “super spiritual.” It is for sons and daughters who trust their Father.

Jesus does not just teach a prayer. He also gives us a powerful image: that of the friend who arrives at night, knocking on the door, asking for bread. And the friend responds, not out of obligation, but out of insistence.

Jesus is not saying that God is like that neighbor who does not want to get up. What he wants to show is that if even a human being responds to insistence, how much more will God, who is good and loving, respond to his children!

 Jesus invites us to trust that God hears and responds. Perhaps not as we want. Perhaps not in our time. But God always responds with what is best for us.  It is an invitation to pray with confidence and persistence.

So what do we do with all this? It’s simple and it’s hard. We stop praying small. We stop keeping it neat. Jesus says: “Ask, and it will be given. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened.” In other words ask big. Keep knocking. Don’t give up.

That kind of bold, persistent prayer shapes how we live.  It means when we pray for housing for the families on our block, we don’t pray once and move on. We keep praying. We keep showing up at meetings. We keep advocating. That’s prayer too.

It means when you pray for your marriage, your job, your mental health, you don’t need a perfect formula. You need honesty and persistence.

It means when your child says, “I don’t think God listens,” you can say, “I’ve had days like that too. And I still prayed. And somehow, I kept going.”

It means when you see injustice, when you feel helpless, you remember Abraham. You remember the neighbor at midnight. And you speak up. You knock.

It means we become a church that prays boldly, together. For healing. For peace. For undocumented families. For LGBTQ+ community, for our youth. For the sick. For the tired. For our enemies. For our whole world.

Because here's the good news:  God is not annoyed by your voice. God doesn’t get tired of your prayers. God doesn’t need you to be polished or perfect. God just wants you to trust that your voice matters.

And when you pray even if the situation doesn’t change right away, YOU will be changed. Your soul will be strengthened. Your spirit will be renewed. And you will not be alone.

Today Jesus reminds us: you don't need fancy words to pray. You need confidence. God is your Father. He listens to you. He loves you. He answers you.

So keep praying. Even if you are tired. Even if you don't see results yet. Ask. Seek. Call.

And when you don't know what to say, do as the disciple did: “Lord, teach me to pray.” He will teach you.

And the Spirit will speak for you, with groans that only God's heart can understand.

Amen.