Prayer is important. I think most of us would agree about that, no matter how actively we practice prayer or not, we see the practice as intrinsically worthwhile and set apart from any other activity or practice.
We might not agree on why it is important, we might not have any idea of why it is important, but deep down we know it just is.
Some folks like to emphasize that prayer is good for us, that statistically those who pray are happier, more fulfilled and they live longer, this is because prayer indicates that a person is connected to beliefs and communities of belief that prevent isolation of the individual, and they have a sense of hope in something greater than human capacity.
Prayer indicates hope, community and belief.
That is a purely pragmatic and practical understanding of prayer, it is good therapy.
But that is not a good enough understanding of prayer. It makes most of us uneasy to treat prayer like medicine or therapy, the results of prayer are not the point.
We don’t pray, at least not for long, in order to be a better and more fulfilled person. We pray because we are driven to know God, we pray in order that we may know the author of life, we pray to be in communion with God.
And to be in communion with God is to be changed, transfigured.
The transfiguration of Jesus is Luke’s Gospel is a prayer experience. Jesus with Peter, James and John went up the mountain to pray.
They encounter Moses and Elijah in conversation with Jesus, speaking of Jesus accomplishing an exodus in Jerusalem. They speak of his cross.
Jesus becomes dazzling.
There are clouds, and glory and the voice speaking, saying to listen to Jesus.
Peter, James and John are amazed and terrified, the want to set up a camp and preserve this mountaintop experience, they want to hold on to it, make it last.
But it ends.
They come down the mountain in silence, not knowing what to say, not telling anyone.
They come down the mountain into a world filled with sickness and demons and beaten children and thy try to minister and they fail, but Jesus succeeds and brings health and liberty and flourishing.
Interesting how prayer leads to silence and ministry in the world, confronting all the darkness and hidden despair in human life.
The disciples almost all died young.
Jesus was crucified.
To say that prayer is bad for our health would be a false statement except that it seems to be true for Jesus and the disciples.
The thing is that in scripture the goal of prayer is not a comfortable and balanced life. Prayer is about encountering God, being changed and confronting and connecting to the pain in the world.
Moses was changed by the encounter; he wore a veil over his glowing countenance.
Paul says that “all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”
Prayer leads to encounter, prayer changes us, and prayer brings us down the mountain into ministry. To grow closer to God is to be more connected to the pain in the world.
But this Gospel lesson is not about prayer, it is about when Jesus prays.
It is about Jesus speaking with Moses and Elijah.
It is about Jesus becoming radiant.
It is about a voice from the clouds saying that Jesus is the Chosen one, listen to him.
It is about Jesus bringing life back to a child who was beaten and possessed.
It is about Jesus meeting us in our failures and bringing about healing and freedom.
This Gospel lesson is about directing our attention to Jesus as someone who is singular and unique. It is about Jesus being God’s answer to all our prayers.
And prayer, as we all know, is important.