Years ago I saw a cartoon... one of those "church
chuckles" things. It showed a
pastor in his study at church, kneeling by a sofa, obviously in prayer. The church secretary walks in, sees the
pastor, and says, "Oh, good. You're
not busy."
There are times for me that praying comes as naturally as my
breathing... and that's my goal. There
are other times - okay, that's most of the time! - when prayer is not the
first, natural, automatic, primary, consistent part of how I spend my day. St. Paul tells us to "pray
always." I'm sure he doesn't mean
that we spend every moment with our eyes closed, head bowed, and hands
clasped. After all, that's sure not how
HE spent his days! What I believe he
meant is that we live every moment in communion with God... in contact... in
relationship... conscious of the Lord's presence within us, around us, and
within others. And that, after all, is
the essence of what prayer is and does, don't you think?
During Lent one year in the last congregation I served as
pastor, we decided to offer a service of Morning Prayer every day at 9:00 a.m.
in the Chapel at the church. A handful
of people came most days during Lent.
When Lent was over, they asked, "Do we have to stop now?" I was stunned... ecstatically so! I don't think I ever had someone come up to
me and ask to keep praying together! So,
we decided to keep it going. Now, after
a few months, it generally was only one ruling elder who would meet me in the
Chapel at 9:00 a.m. for Morning Prayer, but we did that for several years. I miss that time. I miss having someone to pray with. More than that, though, I miss the spiritual
discipline of being accountable to someone else for at least one time each day
when I spend moments in prayer, silence, and Scripture reading. I want to find that structure again.
How about you? How is
prayer for you? Do you have someone with
whom you pray? Do you have a set time or
structure or format for prayer, for silence, for meditation, for devotional
reading?
I think we all want to feel centered in our lives: anchored, solid, focused, balanced, at
peace. I believe we all want to live
into that reality about which St. Paul wrote:
"Don't be anxious about
anything; rather bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and
petitions, along with giving thanks.
Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your
hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 4:6-7, Common English Bible)
Maybe a group of folks in our Presbytery would like to begin
meeting regularly to pray together.
Maybe such a group or groups already does that! I trust you'll join me in wanting to find
some folks with whom to engage in the practices of the spiritual life. And in the meantime, keep praying; you, me,
our churches, our communities, our world all need it!
Blessings and peace,
Steve
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