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6^th Sunday of Easter (Rogate) – May 25^th, 2025 Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas Rev. Joshua Woelmer Text: John 16:23–33 “God Hears Prayer” Theme: God sets the basis for prayer first upon the relationship with Him, then He bids us pray to Him. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. In Luke 11, Jesus’s disciples ask him how to pray, so he teaches them first by giving them the Lord’s Prayer. Then, he gives different scenarios to demonstrate how we should approach prayer. Imagine someone waking you up at midnight to ask to borrow bread for someone who has just arrived on a journey. Jesus says that you won’t get up because they’re your friend, but you’ll give him the bread because of his impudence and boldness to ask at such an hour. So too, God is sometimes impressed at our boldness for what we ask, and he may just give it to us. Another scenario is this: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (12–13). This passage from Luke emphasizes the relationship that we have with God. The most common relationship between God and man in the Bible is that of a parent to a child. Yes, we call God “Lord,” and Paul often calls himself “servant of Christ.” But in prayer especially, God wants us to come to him like children asking their father for something. That’s why the Lord’s Prayer starts with “Our Father…” It’s an acknowledgment of our relationship to him. As a Father, God wants to hear from his children. Every parent wants to hear from their children. You learn this when you leave the house and go to college. The foundation of prayer is love. We hear this in our Gospel reading for today: “the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (27). A child might be scared to ask something of their parents if they show no love for them. In fact, a child might not even want to talk with their parents—they may be scared to say anything lest their parents blow up at them. This is how some people approach prayer: they think they are approaching an angry or impassive deity, someone who barely cares about them. This is more common in other religions who do not talk about their god or gods as being loving. Prayer becomes a sort of bargaining: “I’ll do this for you if you do this for me.” Or it becomes an act of submission from a slave to a master. Even Christians can get into this sort of a mindset. It comes from misunderstanding who God is. This is why God is constantly reminding his people of his “steadfast love.” John goes so far in 1 John 4:8 to say, “God is love.” Love is the primary attribute of God. It’s what He wants us to know about Him. It’s why He sent Jesus to this earth to die and rise again in our place. It was out of love that He did all these things, to reconcile us with Himself. The thing about love, though, especially parental love, is that it does sometimes mean saying “no” to your children. Just because God is loving does not mean that he’ll give you everything your heart desires. But when God says “no” to our prayers, he still desires that we would know that He loves us despite that answer. If someone prays for their cancer to go away and it does not, God may have different plans that are better for us, even though we cannot see them. In this, God wants us to trust his good and gracious will for our lives. How, then should we pray? Well, we’ve talked about the most important aspect: “With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.” Faith in our gracious God is the first step in prayer. The second thing to think about with prayer is to pattern it after the prayer that Jesus gives us. We pray for God’s name to be hallowed, His kingdom to come, His will be done. We pray for daily bread. We pray for forgiveness, a path out of temptation, and deliverance from evil. The Lord’s prayer is wonderful because it teaches us that there are bigger things to pray for than what normally comes to mind. God desires that you pray for those things mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is wonderfully versatile. It covers our whole life and faith. Another thing we can do is to pray from God’s Word. If you have a Portals of Prayer and read the Bible passage and devotion from it, you’ll notice that there’s a prayer at the bottom that matches the topic. It’s teaching us to turn what we hear and read in the Bible into a prayer. If you read a passage about temptation, consider how you are tempted, and pray about that. If you read a passage about God providing for his people, consider how God provides for you and pray about that. If you read a passage about forgiveness or love or mercy, consider God’s steadfast love for you, and pray about that. The Psalms are a great starting point for our prayer. They give words to what we are feeling. This leads me to the final thing to consider in prayer, and that is yourself. It is good to be self-reflective and turn those reflections over to God. Sometimes this means praying for the opposite of what you’re feeling. If you are feeling down and depressed, pray for God to be with you. If you are feeling angry, pray for patience. If you have received some good news or a gift, give thanks to God. If you are sad about someone else, pray for them. Even if you are feeling a temptation to sin, acknowledge to God that strength comes from Him alone, and only he is able to lead you out of temptation. St. Paul summarizes these prayers by saying this: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Tim 2:1). Reflecting on your life is healthy when you turn those thoughts over to God. Why? Because God is your Heavenly Father who desires to hear from you because He loves you. Finally, St. Paul gives us two reasons for prayer in 1 Timothy 2. First, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (2). God does answer prayer. He guides us into a peaceful and quiet life in this earth. He does cure diseases and heal ailments, even as He reminds us that there will come a time when He will take us from this earth. This leads me to the second reason or prayer, that we would be saved: “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (4). We pray that we would stay in relationship with God. We pray that we would be saved. We pray that our wills would be aligned with God’s. For on the day when He takes us to be with him, then our wills will be perfected, and we will love God purely and perfectly in that Blessed Realm. For now, in this life, we pray, and pray, and pray: Thy will be done. And it is. Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen. Return to Top \| Return to Sermons \| Home \| Email Church Office

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6^th Sunday of Easter (Rogate) – May 25^th, 2025

Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas

Rev. Joshua Woelmer

Text: John 16:23–33

“God Hears Prayer”

Theme: God sets the basis for prayer first upon the relationship with Him, then He bids us pray to Him.

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

In Luke 11, Jesus’s disciples ask him how to pray, so he teaches them first by giving them the Lord’s Prayer. Then, he gives different scenarios to demonstrate how we should approach prayer. Imagine someone waking you up at midnight to ask to borrow bread for someone who has just arrived on a journey. Jesus says that you won’t get up because they’re your friend, but you’ll give him the bread because of his impudence and boldness to ask at such an hour. So too, God is sometimes impressed at our boldness for what we ask, and he may just give it to us. Another scenario is this: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (12–13).

This passage from Luke emphasizes the relationship that we have with God. The most common relationship between God and man in the Bible is that of a parent to a child. Yes, we call God “Lord,” and Paul often calls himself “servant of Christ.” But in prayer especially, God wants us to come to him like children asking their father for something. That’s why the Lord’s Prayer starts with “Our Father…” It’s an acknowledgment of our relationship to him. As a Father, God wants to hear from his children. Every parent wants to hear from their children. You learn this when you leave the house and go to college.

The foundation of prayer is love. We hear this in our Gospel reading for today: “the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (27). A child might be scared to ask something of their parents if they show no love for them. In fact, a child might not even want to talk with their parents—they may be scared to say anything lest their parents blow up at them. This is how some people approach prayer: they think they are approaching an angry or impassive deity, someone who barely cares about them.

This is more common in other religions who do not talk about their god or gods as being loving. Prayer becomes a sort of bargaining: “I’ll do this for you if you do this for me.” Or it becomes an act of submission from a slave to a master. Even Christians can get into this sort of a mindset. It comes from misunderstanding who God is.

This is why God is constantly reminding his people of his “steadfast love.” John goes so far in 1 John 4:8 to say, “God is love.” Love is the primary attribute of God. It’s what He wants us to know about Him. It’s why He sent Jesus to this earth to die and rise again in our place. It was out of love that He did all these things, to reconcile us with Himself. The thing about love, though, especially parental love, is that it does sometimes mean saying “no” to your children.

Just because God is loving does not mean that he’ll give you everything your heart desires. But when God says “no” to our prayers, he still desires that we would know that He loves us despite that answer. If someone prays for their cancer to go away and it does not, God may have different plans that are better for us, even though we cannot see them. In this, God wants us to trust his good and gracious will for our lives.

How, then should we pray? Well, we’ve talked about the most important aspect: “With these words God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.” Faith in our gracious God is the first step in prayer.

The second thing to think about with prayer is to pattern it after the prayer that Jesus gives us. We pray for God’s name to be hallowed, His kingdom to come, His will be done. We pray for daily bread. We pray for forgiveness, a path out of temptation, and deliverance from evil. The Lord’s prayer is wonderful because it teaches us that there are bigger things to pray for than what normally comes to mind. God desires that you pray for those things mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer. The Lord’s Prayer is wonderfully versatile. It covers our whole life and faith.

Another thing we can do is to pray from God’s Word. If you have a Portals of Prayer and read the Bible passage and devotion from it, you’ll notice that there’s a prayer at the bottom that matches the topic. It’s teaching us to turn what we hear and read in the Bible into a prayer. If you read a passage about temptation, consider how you are tempted, and pray about that. If you read a passage about God providing for his people, consider how God provides for you and pray about that. If you read a passage about forgiveness or love or mercy, consider God’s steadfast love for you, and pray about that. The Psalms are a great starting point for our prayer. They give words to what we are feeling.

This leads me to the final thing to consider in prayer, and that is yourself. It is good to be self-reflective and turn those reflections over to God. Sometimes this means praying for the opposite of what you’re feeling. If you are feeling down and depressed, pray for God to be with you. If you are feeling angry, pray for patience. If you have received some good news or a gift, give thanks to God. If you are sad about someone else, pray for them. Even if you are feeling a temptation to sin, acknowledge to God that strength comes from Him alone, and only he is able to lead you out of temptation.

St. Paul summarizes these prayers by saying this: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people” (1 Tim 2:1). Reflecting on your life is healthy when you turn those thoughts over to God. Why? Because God is your Heavenly Father who desires to hear from you because He loves you.

Finally, St. Paul gives us two reasons for prayer in 1 Timothy 2. First, “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way” (2). God does answer prayer. He guides us into a peaceful and quiet life in this earth. He does cure diseases and heal ailments, even as He reminds us that there will come a time when He will take us from this earth. This leads me to the second reason or prayer, that we would be saved: “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (4). We pray that we would stay in relationship with God. We pray that we would be saved. We pray that our wills would be aligned with God’s. For on the day when He takes us to be with him, then our wills will be perfected, and we will love God purely and perfectly in that Blessed Realm. For now, in this life, we pray, and pray, and pray: Thy will be done. And it is.

Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.

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