PRAYER

The busier life gets the more I feel the love of God drawing me into time to be with Him. It’s a very strange and counter-intuitive Kingdom we’re part of. Jesus says that we are “not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”  Busy people tend to fill their day with activity. The thought of pausing to rest and breathe cannot be tolerated because there is simply too much to do and not enough hours in the day. This isn’t how God works. For me personally I have observed a gradual increase in the time that Jesus asks me to spend with him over this past year.

Going for long walks to talk with God and to listen to Him is a one of life’s great pleasures. I love this time together. I might start a walk with a particular thought or question or problem on my mind. I might want to play through an event I’m organizing. As the walk continues, I notice God asking me to focus on praise and to hand all my cares and concerns to Him. I notice how He lifts me “into a spacious place; he rescues me because He delights in me.” (Psalm 18 verse 19). By the end of the walk, it’s clear that I’ve been transformed by Jesus. The journey of walking whilst “with unveiled faces” contemplating God’s glory transforms me “into His image with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3 v 18). It truly is a glorious pleasure which I highly commend to you. And the wonderful bonus is that usually there is a lot more clarity and peace at the end of the walk. Something I could have spend several hours toiling and striving over can find ease and resolution in the freedom and freshness of the presence of God.

After a while, this daily walk was added to with time spent in contemplative prayer at home. I felt the Lord encourage me to spend time just sitting with him and saying nothing for 20-30 minutes every day. I light 2 candles – one representing me and one the Lord. And then we simply sit in silent communion with each other. I love time with close friends and family when we are comfortable enough to just be together without the need to do or say anything. Having this time with God is wonderful. As I watch the flames flicker, I think about God’s Spirit and my spirit intertwining. “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” (Psalm 42 v 7). This time allows the great depths and hidden places within me to meet and engage with the depths of the Spirit of God. How awesome is that?!

Brother Nicholas from Mirfield Abbey, #ThyKingdomCome2022, describes it like this:

“In prayer you tend to start talking quite a lot and then you find that actually it’s more about listening. It’s more about letting God take over. So, prayer isn’t something that I drive myself. I’m not in the driving seat. Ideally, prayer is letting God do it and I am listening and responding to that. And if God wants me to sit there and be quiet, well that’s fine. We’re not good at listening. We hear words but we don’t listen deeply. The skill of listening to your brethren is what opens your mind to listening to what God is wanting to say.”

The request of God for me at the moment is to stop 3 times every day to spend time with Him. This has been the biggest challenge but has given the greatest benefit. Pausing in the morning and evening was fine – these are natural start and end points of the day. Stopping in the middle of the day is harder. That’s when things are busiest. On one particular day, however, I noticed the wisdom of God in this. I had several meetings to go to that day and couldn’t possibly stop. I pulled the car over at the side of the road and listened to some worship music for a while. Fatigue and stress turned into refreshment and joy and the realisation hit me that God does in fact know what He’s talking about! He knows I need that space to be refreshed and to not burn out.

I wonder what prayer adventure God’s love is drawing you into? Whatever it is, get ready for an amazing adventure! Sometimes painful when He wants to show something difficult but always, always beneficial and good and transformational.

^“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate^[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3 v 18