Somebody once said, "Everything I know about life I learned at my mother's knee ... and other joints." He said it to be funny, but I have to echo when it comes to prayer. I don't remember any particular time as a child when I said, "Mom, teach me to pray." I just know that I learned my first prayers ... at my mother's knee. To play off the sign in front of the Mahopac Falls Presbyterian Church, my Mom wanted me to be "Prayer Conditioned."

Now the biggest lesson Mom taught me about prayer was not when I was two, four, or six ... but a mere eight years ago. She was in the critical care unit of a Cleveland hospital. The oxygen mask over her face made it difficult to talk. I said, "Mom you're going to beat this thing and I want to pray with you now and ask God for a healing." I took her hand and she was shaking her head "no." She slowly reached up and pulled on the oxygen mask, "Tim, I'm tired. I want to go home."

Mom was persistent; I was resistant. I thought to myself, "Sorry Mom, this is my prayer not yours," but it was only a brief selfish thought. If Mom, with about a strong a faith as anyone I've ever known, if she wanted to "go home," then who was I to try to beg God otherwise? You see, "home" for her was that place of promise beyond the valley of the shadow of death. Mom did not have a death wish ... but merely a wish for the life eternal that had been foreshadowed at the time of her Baptism!

I learned to pray like a pro because I learned prayer from a pro - at my Mother's knee and other joints ... including units of critical care. I had prayed for her health; it was by Mom's side in that place, I learned she was healthy in the best way possible: she had made peace with her mortality and was ready for God's next surprise. Persistent prayer is wonderful ... but I need to be careful that my prayers are not overly tied up with my own wants and desires. Like the little girl as she was climbing the stairs to her bedroom, shouting down to her family, "I'm going to say my prayers now; anybody want anything?"

Today, the sermon is about prayer. Normally I don't announce what the topic is going to be ... I just hope by the end of the sermon folks will have gotten the general drift. But this morning I take no chances: this sermon is about prayer. As a preacher who prays aloud and a lot in public settings ... I guess you have a right to know how I feel about prayer. I am for it! (I like taking bold stances.) I am for prayer - private prayer, public prayer. I am for personal prayer in church - one of the reasons I feel so strongly about urging quiet time before worship begins. I have mixed emotions about prayer in school, but I like the sign on one principal's desk, "in case of fire, or flood, or terrorist attack, the ban on school prayer is temporarily lifted!"

In our text this morning, the disciples want to learn at the knee of the Master, "Jesus, teach us to pray." They want to pray like a pro and they start at the top, "Jesus, teach us to pray." Nowadays, we can go to any bookstore and find a whole shelf of books on the subject of prayer. What to pray about and how to pray about it! If I pray to God to make me rich, I'm sure the answer will be, "Tim, write a book on prayer."

"But why read about prayer," reason the disciples. "Why not go right to the Source?" And Jesus tells his disciples, begin like this: "Father." And with that simple, familiar word, "Father," the way is paved for prayer. Of all the stained glass, pious phrases Jesus could have selected, he says "Father," "Abba." He could have said, "Lord God, mighty King of the universe...." He said, "Abba." Biblical scholars suggest that "Daddy" is closer to the meaning.

The disciples ask Jesus for a lesson in prayer, and Jesus gives them a lesson on the nature of God. Quite frankly, as a father of three children, I KNOW what it is to be a good father - and I KNOW how far from that ideal I am. I'm not being unduly modest. Is there a parent among us this morning would make the claim of "ideal parent"? I love my children in my own flawed way.  I want to give them all of the advantages of life and the very best that life has to offer. And that's me ... I am abba, with a small "a." I am a small "a" abba who hopes that my children, now grown, know that I did the best I could with the tools I had. And I know they love me in spite of it all.

However, our perfect Abba, large "A" Father in Heaven has things in mind beyond our understanding. And so when our prayer requests are not answered the way we think they ought to be ... perhaps it is only because we are too "young" to understand the full implications of what we want or think we need.

Brothers and sister, it is when we put ourselves in the conscious presence of Abba, Father, our deepest need and our most heartfelt prayer is answered. When we say, "Abba," "Daddy," it is then that we most pray like a pro. And why not? At the knee of Jesus, we were taught to pray "Abba."

Have you ever heard of the P.A.R.T. prayer? If you don't have a regular prayer life, and if like the disciples you want to learn to pray, the P.A.R.T. prayer may be a place to start: Praise, Admit, Request, Thank. "Abba, Daddy, you're the greatest and I love you like crazy. I admit that I sometimes shut you out when my own life gets too crazy. Please, Lord, help me to stay focused and do your will. And I am so thankful that you understand me when I cannot even begin to understand myself. Amen." A simple prayer. The P.A.R.T. prayer: Make up your own, using Praise. Admit. Request. Thank. Before you know it, you too will pray like a pro!

And if any of you, right this very moment, are praying that the sermon is over - Amen. See! Pray works.