For: The Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephens University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.
Prayer, for me, is wonderfully frustrating. There are times when it seems easy and I feel connected to God while at other times I feel like I am wading through peanut butter. I have been a Christian for a while, so you would think that I have a handle on prayer, right? More than that, I am a pastor, a professional. This should be easy. Wrong. Sometimes prayer is hard work. At least it is for me.
One of the things that I have learned about myself is that I need some sort of structure. Some time ago I looked at how our early church fathers and mothers handled prayer. It seems as if they needed some structure, too. They scheduled prayer into their days. So, I have done this myself. As I schedule my days, I try to schedule a time for prayer. I use a devotional book, The Little Book of Hours, from the Benedictine monks. It has helped me immensely by helping me to become focused. My mind tends to wander.
I am very grateful for this structure. I try not to just go through the motions. I try to keep my focus on God’s presence in my life and envision him listening and watching me. I am seeking his face.
This has got be to thinking about prayer as it relates to our worshiping community. In our services, we are relying a little more on written prayers that we pray out loud together. I love this because it reminds me that I not only have a “personal” prayer life, but I also have a communal pray life, too.
Also related to prayer and our church community, I am tinkering around with the idea of a midweek prayer time during the lunch hour. It would be short (30 min) where some of us could meet up and be led through some readings and prayer. Just a thought. Haven’t talked to anyone, yet. We’ll see.
Below is one of my favorite “written prayers” by St. Patrick. I love it.
“Christ beside me, Christ before me;
Christ behind me, Christ within me;
Christ beneath me, Christ above me;
Christ to right of me, Christ to left of me;
Christ in my lying, my sitting, my rising;
Christ in heart of all who know me,
Christ on tongue of all who meet me,
Christ in eye of all who see me,
Christ in ear of all who hear me.
For to the Lord belongs salvation,
And to the Lord belongs salvation
And to Christ belongs Salvation.
May your salvation, Lord, be with us always.
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1 comment:
That prayer by St. Patrick is one of my very, very favorites. I sometimes catch myself muttering it mindlessly; then I stop and turn it into more than just words.
I like the "wading through peanut butter" analogy. And I really love the idea of scheduling in prayer times. I worked with this amazing woman in California who was really into contemplative prayer. About three days a week, she'd go home and spend her lunch hour in prayer. I can't even tell you the amazing presence she brought to the office the rest of those workdays.
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