WATCHWORD:
6 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 1 Kings 19:11-12.
Meditation:
Prayer. Part 2, the practical.
Years ago, I was doing the children’s sermon, sitting with all the little ones gathered around me, and I asked them a simple question: how do you pray? Immediately I heard from one, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” From another, “God is great and God is good …” There were other contributions, some silly, some to the point.
Then I asked them to show me what it looked like when they prayed. To a child, they folded their hands, bowed their heads and closed their eyes. They were showing me their posture for praying.
I used to listen to Steve Brown when he had a 15-minute program every morning on WBCL, Fort Wayne. He started those mini-broadcasts with prayer, always admonishing those driving to keep their eyes on the road, focus on what they were doing and simply pray to the Lord. No eyes closed, no folded hands, no bowed heads.
I have been driving while listening to Steve, and his messages smoothly drifted into my conversation with God. Simple stuff, stuff of gratitude and blessings. I come out of those conversations, feeling maybe just a little cleaner, more at peace.
Recently, a dear friend of mine commented that her schedule was so packed that day that she did not have time for her usual devotional time of readings and prayers, and she felt incomplete. I can understand that.
I remember a workshop I attended with Paul Borg at the John 23rd Center in Hartford city. One of the sessions had to do with prayer, how we approach prayer and even the posture we have when praying. One the things that I learned from those exercises, a lesson that I practice occasionally, is to sit with my hands in my lap, open, with palms up as if receiving something. Often, when I do that, there are times when there’s a tangible sense of receiving blessings from the Lord. I hope that doesn’t seem weird, because, for me, it is a very reverent posture.
We’ve all heard, or read, Paul’s charge to the church at Thessalonica to “pray without ceasing”. Maybe you wondered how does one do all that? We may even have said, why that is impossible. No one can to anything without ceasing.
Without going into any of the deep theological reasons for following that charge, let’s just think about the practical part of it. First, how do we pray? Most of us have grown up in the church where some of the prayers are scripted, right out of the Bible, or flowing from the lectionary. I know that most of us are not Lutheran, although for the life of me, I don’t know why that could possibly be! Nevertheless, we know that some churches are formal in their prayers, and some churches are less formal. At the personal level, where do you fall?
John Sanford is one of my favorite detective story writers, and my favorite characters in his books is detective Virgil Flowers. Completely aside from the fun-read of the story is the fact that Virgil always has at least one “conversation with God”, even to the point of lifting up one of the vulnerable characters. You get the impression that such conversations are like talking to your friend.
If I asked the same questions of you as I did the children, you probably would give me similar answers. You might identify a rote prayer, such as the Lord’s Prayer, or something silly like “bless this food and us who eats it”. As for the posture of prayer, I don’t know what I would get from you.
I would venture that 100% of you who are reading this Watchword talk to yourselves, maybe with great frequency. I do, and I know that my Carol, does. I believe that our prayers should be like that; informal, spontaneous, just a conversation with God. Bringing Him up to date, even though we know, He knows. Talk about those in need, about the good stuff, the kids. Posture? Well, let’s see, what’s your posture when you wash dishes? Run the sweeper? Mow? Travel to a meeting. You get my point. Nothing would prevent you from engaging the King of the Universe in a little conversation, as you both multi-task.
Here’s a tip: Pause, occasionally, and listen to His response, deep within your heart. Listen carefully. Remember, He uses a “still small voice”. Amen.
Something (with a little editing) to get you singing:
Just a closer talk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
Daily talking close with Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be
Bulletin Board:
In honor of Justice Ginsberg – We are in the middle of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, begins Sunday, September 27, just before sunset, and continues until several minutes before sunset the following day. This is in the Jewish month of Tishrei, 30 days of an autumn month, usually in September-October on the Gregorian calendar. Yom Kippur means “Day of Atonement,” as the verse states, “For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before God.” (That’s a prayer we all could offer.)
Morning Prayers:
Lord, thank you for your abundant, abounding grace. Thank you that we don’t have to earn a drop of the mighty river of grace that flows freely for us today. Thank you for the unexpected, unmerited favor you’ve showered on our lives. Help us put ourselves in the path of your love and grace. Help us not neglect the disciplines we need to meet with you regularly and to drink from the water of life. Thank you for your rich love. Amen.
