Observe; Think; Commit.
Throughout January our focus is on prayer.
We are beginning the new year by renewing the way we spend time with God in prayer. This means taking the opportunity to: observe our practices, think about our habits, and commit ourselves to a discipline of prayer.
Observe:
This month, look at the ways you already pray. Prayer is most fundamentally talking to God. Perhaps, when you stop and look, you will discover you already pray a lot! Perhaps you pray often in the morning - this is when I most like to pray. Some of the great spiritual thinkers, such as Brother Lawrence (pictured), the 17th Century Monk who wrote The Practice of the Presence of God, would pray whilst doing his work, even whilst washing up. However, it could be, that when you stop and look, you find that you don't pray as much as you would like.
Think:
If, like me (and many others), you find that you don't pray as much as you would like - or if you would like to grow in your relationship with the Lord through prayer - begin to think about your current habits, and how you could adapt them to be more prayerful. Perhaps you take the dog for a walk each morning, could you start saying the Lord's Prayer whilst on route? Perhaps you call your grandchildren each day after school, why not pause for a moment before you pick up the phone and ask the Lord to bless them. You don't necessarily need new habits - but you may find blessing in making your current habits more prayerful.
Commit:
I believe that, across the eight churches of our Ministry Area, we could benefit from being more prayerful; and I am therefore making prayer a priority for my own life, and I hope that you will make a commitment to join me:
7.14 Prayer: every Wednesday morning in Term Time, at Nolton Rectory, for an hour of open prayer.
Evening Prayer: Starting 6th of March, every Thursday at 6pm, for a simple service of Evening Prayer at St Teilo’s Merthyr Mawr.
Central Prayer: Making prayer a central part of our life, means having a central prayer meeting! Every 'first' Tuesday of the month at Nolton Hall (starting Tuesday 4th February) 7.30pm for refreshments, 8pm for prayer. Come and pray for your church.
Church Prayer Meetings: A vital aspect of every living church is its prayer life. As the year progresses, we intend to see each church offering a regular (weekly or monthly) prayer meeting. If your church does not yet have one, speak to me about starting one.
A Prayer of Brother Lawrence:
To close, let me offer you a prayer prayer of Brother Lawrence to be said before undertaking any work or chore:
"My God, you are always close to me.
In obedience to you, I must now apply myself to outward things.
Yet, as I do, I pray that you will give me the grace of your presence.
And to this end I ask that you will assist my work,
receive its fruits as an offering to you,
and all the while direct all my affections to you. Amen"
