Rector’s Daily Reflections
Wednesday 28th February 2024
Learning More About Prayer
I thought that I would start a new series of reflections, on the subject of prayer. I think most Christians feel that their prayer life isn’t quite what it ought to be. Perhaps we feel that we should be praying more often than we do. Or perhaps we feel that the prayers we offer don’t quite work - we utter the words, but the words don’t seem to connect with reality. Or perhaps we find our prayer life unsatisfactory because we’re not quite sure of how we stand with God. Does God really love us? Are we forgiven? Does the offering of prayers make any real difference at all?
Prayer is the work of a lifetime. Why isn’t it so much easier? I think the reason for this is that prayer is all about relationships, and relationships change and grow over time. There are three key relationships at the heart of prayer.
The first relationship is our relationship with others. So often in our prayers, we pray for others - especially family members and friends. As our relationships with others grow and change, so will our prayers. Our prayers are also often about our relationships with fellow Christians, whether members of our own congregations or Christians further afield. Christian prayer serves as an expression of Christian community.
The second relationship at the heart of prayer is our relationship with ourselves. What is on our heart and mind? What are we grateful for? What are our regrets? What are we looking forward to? What are our fears for the future? Prayer often takes the form of an internal dialogue with ourselves – we pause from the busyness of our day to day lives, and as we pause, we become aware of all the different things that are on our mind.
Finally, prayer is about our relationship with God, and God’s relationship with us. Does God feel real to us? Are we happy with God, or angry with Him because of something which might have happened in our own lives or the lives of others? Our prayer life will inevitably develop as our relationship with God develops over the years. The relationship we had with God as a child or teenager will be different from the relationship we have with him as a young adult, or as we become middle aged, or enter the last years of our life. Do we allow God to grow up with us, or do we force Him to remain the God we knew as a child or young person?
So prayer is all about relationship, and every relationship has its challenges. But every relationship also has the potential to bring joy and deep fulfilment into our lives. What might we do to allow our experience of prayer to become more satisfying? More of a joy and less of a chore?
I will share some thoughts on this in the days ahead.