15th Sunday after Pentecost: Three Important Things About How We Should Pray

Today we are again going to look at the introit for the Mass. But before we do, let me remind you again what an introit is:

The introit is a song or chant that is sung or played at the beginning of the Mass. It is also known as the entrance hymn or gathering song. The word "introit" comes from the Latin word introitus, which means "entrance". It is part of the liturgy's proper, which is the part that changes throughout the liturgical year. A specific introit text is provided for every Sunday and holy day.

The scripture texts for today’s introit comes from Psalms 86:1-3: A prayer for David himself. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor. Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in thee. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day.

In Psalm 86 David teaches us three very important things about how we should pray.  

We should: Pray Humbly – Ps 86:1, “for I am poor and needy”.

If pride is an exalted sense of who we are in relation to God and others, humility is having a realistic sense of who we are before God and others. We must not think too highly (or too lowly) of ourselves. Rather, we must be honest and realistic about who and what we are.

This lies behind Paul’s thinking when he tells the Romans, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly.” (Rom. 12:3). He then proceeds to instruct the believers in how to use the spiritual gifts God has imparted to them to serve one another (Rom. 12:4–8). In other words, humility is having a right view of ourselves in relation to God and others and acting accordingly.

What is a right view of ourselves? Specifics will vary from person to person, but certain things are common to us all. We are God’s creatures: small, finite, dependent, limited in intelligence and ability, prone to sin, and soon to die and face God’s judgment (Heb. 9:27). But we  who are Christians are also God’s children: created, loved, and redeemed by God’s grace alone, not by anything in or of ourselves; and gifted by God with certain unique gifts, abilities, resources, and advantages, which are to be used for his glory. As Paul reminds the Corinthians, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Cor. 4:7). Frequently reminding ourselves of these things is important.

Having a right view of God and ourselves has a profound effect on our relationships with others. As Paul goes on to say in Romans, “Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” (Rom. 12:16). And as he said to the Philippians, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” (Phil. 2:3–4). As we refuse to be preoccupied with ourselves and our own importance and seek to love and serve others, it will reorient us from self-centeredness to other-centeredness—to serving and caring for others just as Jesus did for us. In the narcissistic culture of contemporary America, this is a particularly powerful countercultural witness of Christ’s presence and lordship in our lives.

Truly, humility is our greatest friend. It increases our hunger for God’s word and opens our hearts to his Spirit. It leads to intimacy with God, who knows the proud from afar, but dwells with him who has “a contrite and humble spirit” (Isa. 57:15). It imparts the aroma of Christ to all whom we encounter. It is a sign of greatness in the kingdom of God (Luke 22:24–27).

Developing the identity, attitude, and conduct of a humble servant does not happen over night. It is rather like peeling an onion: you cut away one layer only to find another beneath it. But it does happen. As we forsake pride and seek to humble ourselves by daily deliberate choices in dependence on the Holy Spirit, humility grows in our souls. Humility is not a grace that can be acquired in a few months: it is the work of a lifetime. And it is a grace that is precious in the sight of God, who in due course will exalt all who embrace it.

We should Pray Holily – Ps 86:2, “for I am holy”.

Holiness based on mere tactics and discipline is no holiness at all, no matter how shiny it looks on the outside. Self-sanctification is a better name for this pursuit, and for those whose spiritual nerve endings have not been fried, it is as miserable as it is futile. Much of the time, self-sanctifiers simply fall into the same old pits over and over again. Powerless as a branch apart from the vine (John 15:4–5), they cannot withstand the allure of the second glance, the third episode, the fourth drink. They are paralytics commanding themselves to walk. Many of us can still feel the ache from the repeated falls and bruised resolves. In fact, there’s only one thing worse than failing at self-sanctification: succeeding.

Paul gives us one of the most vivid portraits of “successful” self-sanctifiers in Colossians 2:16–23. With an iron will, they carefully keep their list of regulations, most of them self-imposed: “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch” (Colossians 2:21). They deal harshly with their own bodies in order to whip their lusts into submission (Colossians 2:23). They seem spiritual, even mystical, talking of angels and “going on in detail about visions” (Colossians 2:18).

But then comes the devastating assessment: all of their discipline and self-control is “of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Colossians 2:23). Self-sanctification merely trades outward sins for inward sins: pornography for pride, gluttony for greed, angry outbursts for quiet contempt. And why? Because in all their fervor for moral purity, self-sanctifiers nevertheless refuse to “[hold] fast to the Head” — that is, they refuse to trust and love Jesus (Colossians 2:19). The makeup of outward virtue hides the ugly truth: self-sanctifiers are lifeless as a severed limb.

When we separate holiness from Christ himself, the pursuit of holiness inevitably becomes mechanical or individualistic — the solution to a spiritual equation or the effect of my brute will. But genuine holiness is neither mechanical nor individualistic: it is, in the first place, relational. And so, when Paul turns the corner from Colossians 2 to Colossians 3, he shifts our eyes from the futility of self-sanctification to Sanctity himself: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. . . . For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1, 3) Your life — your true life — is hidden with Christ, the Holy One. Your union with him now makes you holy (Colossians 3:12). But in order to live out that holiness here, you must “seek the things that are above, where Christ is” (Colossians 3:1). In other words, holiness is the flower of our union with Christ, and it grows and unfolds through our communion with Christ. Then, and only then, does Paul command the Colossians to put specific sins to death (Colossians 3:5–11), suggesting that the only people who can truly kill their sin (and not just replace one with another) are those who are preoccupied with Jesus. We are lepers who become clean only as he lays his hand upon us, paralytics who rise only as he gives the command, blind men who see only as he touches our eyes. The holiest Christians are not those most concerned about holiness as such, but those whose minds and hearts and goals and purposes and love and hope are most fully focused on our Lord Jesus Christ.

How, then, do we prevent the pursuit of holiness from becoming a clever shield that keeps us from Christ? Ultimately, we are in desperate need of the Holy Spirit, who dwells within us in order to daily draw us to Christ (John 16:14). Yet consider one modest proposal for welcoming his ongoing ministry to that end: when you sit down to read, pray, or hear God’s word, do not settle for anything less than communion with the living Christ. Rather than call these activities spiritual disciplines or means of grace (which are both helpful in their own way), I like to call them trysting times. A tryst, of course, is a meeting between lovers. So in the daily reading of the Word, Christ pays daily visits to the soul. In daily prayer, Christ reveals himself to his own in a different way than he does to the world. In the house of God Christ comes to his own, and says: “Peace be unto you!” And in the sacrament he makes himself known in the breaking of the bread, and they cry out: “It is the Lord!” These are all trysting times, when the Savior comes to visit his own. There is no equation here. Only something far better: A Savior who is always ready to visit with us, commune with us, and show us his glory. And, in doing so, to make us holy as he is holy.

Pray Habitually – Ps 86:3, “for I cry unto thee daily”.

“Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer” (Romans 12:12)

What does it mean to “Be instant in prayer”?

The word “constant” here doesn’t mean that every minute you are praying. It means persist in prayer. Persevere in it. Stay at it. Be devoted to it. Don’t give up or slack off. Be habitual. It’s the opposite of random, occasional, sporadic, intermittent. In other words, Paul is calling all Christians to make prayer a regular, habitual, recurring, disciplined part of our life. Treat prayer the way you treat eating and sleeping and doing your job. Don’t be hit and miss about it. Don’t assume it will fill in the cracks of other things. Dealing with God in prayer deserves more than a dial-up on the fly.

He is, of course, available any time. And he loves to help any time. But he is dishonored when we do not make time in our day to give him focused attention. All relationships suffer without regular focused attention. Paul is calling all of us to a life or regular, planned meetings with God in prayer in which we praise him for who he is, and thank him for what he has done, and ask him for help, and plead the cause of those we love, including the peoples of the world.

So “be constant in prayer”. Ask God to help you. Resolve to use your sanctified will to make it happen. Plan the time and the place and the method.