Thoughts on Prayer: Ash Wednesday 2008: Revd. Julia Boothby

IN NOTE FORM

Repentance, giving, fasting these are all part of our journey as we set out on our Lenten pilgrimage. But, I personally find that they are the easier part. For me, and perhaps for you, the more difficult part is prayer. Prayer should undergird all that we do, not just in Lent but always.

Prayer, the church’s banquet, Angel’s age
God’s breath in man returning to his birth
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage…

Those words of George Herbert seem to sum up so beautifully what prayer is, God’s breath in man returning to his birth.
God made us to pray, our very beings are designed so that we might enjoy open communication with God our loving father. And there are times when it is wonderful, when we feel ourselves lifted up to heaven and face to face with God, but more often perhaps we find that prayer is difficult and a struggle. Lack of concentration, lack of desire, stumbling words, a sense of nothing and no-one, these are just some of the problems that we encounter, lack of time or discipline, for all of these reasons

At this season perhaps we find it much easier to give up alcohol or chocolate, or take part in one of the very good lent disciplines such as the Christian Aid one, than we do can pay attention to our prayer lives and to seek to pray more. Yet that is what we must surely do if we are to truly draw closer to God.

Return to God, is a theme that runs through our bible readings. Return, turn again. Turn again in prayer to God. Make prayer the cornerstone of your day, of your life. The truth is that whilst we may feel inadequate, we may feel that our prayers are not good enough, God delights in them. He longs to hear from us, he waits for us to open our hearts to him, to return to him so that he may hear us and answer us.

R. S. Thomas the poet wrote of prayers being like gravel flung at the sky’s window, hoping to attract attention. We may feel that God is not there, that he is not listening, but we are called on to know by faith we know that he is. Prayer is not about how we feel, whether we sense God or not. Prayer is not about us, it is about God. It is about coming in obedience to what he has told us to do; it is about discipline and habit, things that we do not find easy. Yet whilst prayer is all about God, God in his goodness blesses us as we seek to pray more and more. He opens his heart of love to us and makes available his Holy Spirit to help us and guide and strengthen us as we pray. Prayer is what we are all called to do more and more.

May we this Lent seek to put personal prayer at the very heart of our Lenten journey. May we come to God just as we are, with our own words and fears and hopes and allow him in prayer to answer us as we wait in silence.
Let us return to God in prayer.

Offer you this time of quiet now as a beginning on that journey.