Thoughts for the Day

I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
give ear to my voice when I call to you.
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice....

Let the righteous strike me;
let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,
for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

What really is prayer? My mother, Olive, would go for a swim in the sea and sing choruses like "Will your anchor hold". Her life was bound up with the hymns and choruses she had learnt at her Baptist Church as a young woman and she would sing snatches of them at any time of the day. For her God was a friend that she could turn to, a never-ending help in trouble. Her favourite book of the Bible was John's Gospel and in particular chapters 14 and 15, and her bibles were all falling apart. I say bibles in the plural because she had to change to a larger print copy as her eyesight failed.

For Olive prayer was simply talking to God at any time of the day and night. She believed that He loved to hear from her as often as possible. God might have known what she was going to say but she often thanked Him, and would constantly sing the chorus "Count your blessings". Equally she no doubt praised God, told Him she was sorry and asked for forgiveness, sometimes just telling Him what was on her heart. Her faith was profound, but her prayer life was simple.

We should remember that prayer is simply turning to God in conversation, in song, and even in silence. It is speaking to God the Father, with the help of Jesus the Son, and to be enabled to do this through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is also to know that God listens to us. It is the life-blood action of every Christian.

Heavenly Father,
may we ever turn to You,
in the way we speak to a close friend,
to praise You, thank You, request help,
and always to ask for forgiveness for our sin.
May our prayer be as natural as breathing,
and may we grow closer and closer
to You as the years go by.
We ask this through
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
and in the power of the Spirit.
Amen.