Asking and answers


 

 

‘Prayer is asking, and prayer is sitting. Prayer is the breath. Prayer is not an answer, always, because not all questions can be answered.’

from Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community
by Pádraig Ó Tuama, p. xi
 

A prayer

    I know
that when the stress has grown too strong,
    you will be there.

    I know
that when the waiting seems so long,
    you hear my prayer.

    I know
that through the crash of falling worlds
    you’re holding me.

    I know
that life and death are yours
    eternally.

 
by Mother Janet Stuart (1857-1914),
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #241
 

From the blog
Jesus, pray for us
Bend down low
The Gift #2 : For the asking
 

From prayer and conversation to answers


Het Vredeskerkje (The Little Peace Church) in Bergen aan Zee, NL

 

For those looking for answers on how to be salt and light in the world, here are some wise words from Paul:

 

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

 

 

Prayer

O God, our Master in heaven,
make us fair and just in our dealings with others;
keep us persistent in prayer for them,
alert to their needs,
and constantly thankful;
open doors for us to proclaim the message about the secret of Christ;
help us to speak as we should, to make it clear.
Keep us wise in the way we act towards those who do not believe,
help us always to make good use of every opportunity we have;
let our conversation be attractive and inspiring,
and teach us how to give the right answer to everyone,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 
~ written by Michael Perry, and posted on www.jubilate.co.uk

From the blog
Environmentally water-wise
Small talk
To Emmaus and back
 

In the school of prayer with Eugene Peterson

 

Here are some extracts on the topic of prayer by Eugene Peterson from his book, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer.

 
 

I

What is essential in prayer is not that we learn to express ourselves, but that we learn to answer God. The psalms show us how to answer. (p. 6)

II

The practice of Christians in praying the Psalms is straightforward: simply pray through the Psalms, psalm by psalm, regularly. … That’s it: open our Bibles to the book of Psalms and prayer them – sequentially, regularly, faithfully across a lifetime. This is how most Christians for most of the Christian centuries have matured in prayer. Nothing fancy. Just do it. The praying itself is deliberate and leisurely, letting (as St. Benedict directed) the motions of the heart come into harmony with the movements of the lips. (p. 7)

III

All the psalms are prayers in community: people assembled, attentive before God, participating in a common posture, movement and speech, offering themselves and each other to their Lord. Prayer is not a private exercise, but a family convocation. … the believing community at worship, at regular times and in assigned places, is the base of prayer. All the psalms were prayed in such communities. … The primary use of prayer in not for expressing ourselves, but in becoming ourselves, and we cannot do that alone. (p. 18-19)

IV

Human beings are in trouble most of the time. Those who don’t know they are in trouble are in the worst trouble. Prayer is the language of the people who are in trouble and know it, and who believe or hope that God can get them out. (p. 36)

V

We do better to simply enter the sequence of psalms as they are given to us in the Psalms, go from one to the next, one day to the next, one week to the next, taking what comes, learning to enter into what comes, whatever, practicing a sense of the presence of God, deepening that awareness into colloquy* with God. (p. 108)

 
*  colloquy: dialogue, conversation, heart-to-heart

So I answered

Psalm 40:1-8, The Message (translated by Eugene Peterson)

I waited and waited and waited for God.
    At last he looked; finally he listened.
He lifted me out of the ditch,
    pulled me from deep mud.
He stood me up on a solid rock
    to make sure I wouldn’t slip.
He taught me how to sing the latest God-song,
    a praise-song to our God.
More and more people are seeing this:
    they enter the mystery,
    abandoning themselves to God.

Blessed are you who give yourselves over to God,
    turn your backs on the world’s “sure thing,”
    ignore what the world worships;
The world’s a huge stockpile
    of God-wonders and God-thoughts.
Nothing and no one
    compares to you!
I start talking about you, telling what I know,
    and quickly run out of words.
Neither numbers nor words
    account for you.

Doing something for you, bringing something to you—
    that’s not what you’re after.
Being religious, acting pious—
    that’s not what you’re asking for.
You’ve opened my ears
    so I can listen.

So I answered, “I’m coming.
    I read in your letter what you wrote about me,
And I’m coming to the party
    you’re throwing for me.”
That’s when God’s Word entered my life,
    became part of my very being.
 

From the blog
In the school of prayer with Anselm
In the school of prayer with Michael Mayne
In the school of prayer with Ignatius of Loyola
 

Answer the call

A prayer

inspired by Genesis 12:1-7
 

Lord, help us answer your call as readily as our father Abram, that we might extend your blessing throughout our community. Remind us that the places where we find you become altars in our world.  Amen.

 
from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro, p. 91
 

From the blog
Continually ever-present
Walking the labyrinth
Sabbath rest
 

Open ending


 
 

This final post for 2023 has an intriguing title, something to chew on, and features a prayer of reflection by Tim Watson for the end of a day … or year …

 

Reflection at the end of a day

 
In the silence
we hold before God the day now passing into history
and we give thanks

silence

Lord, for this day
we give you thanks.
Lord, for the moments when we encountered grace and beauty
we give you thanks.
Lord, for conversations that have made an impact on our lives
we give you thanks.
Lord, for the times when we have seen you at work
we give you thanks.
 
In the silence we hold before God the hurts of the past day

silence

Lord, we remember the times
when we have not shown love
through our thoughts, words and actions.
We seek forgiveness.
Lord, we remember the times
when we have been hurt by the words and actions of others.
Help us to forgive.
Lord, we remember the times
when we have been distracted from seeking after you.
Lord, make yourself known to us,
help us to see you
in the midst of the noise and clamour of this world
 
In the silence we hold before God tomorrow
and the opportunities it bears

silence

Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit would guide us
into the ways of righteousness
that you would give us strength for the journey.
Lord, you know the shape of our lives at this time,
you know the delights we enjoy and the pressures we endure.
Guide us and give us wisdom to know your will,
strengthen our resolve to discern your call.
Lord, make yourself known to us in the daily pattern of our lives.
Help us to see the fruit borne out of small actions.
Lord, help us to live faithfully amidst uncertainty.
Fortify us to be followers in your Way.
Lord, help us to not live as autonomous units,
but as fellow travellers on a journey.
Lord, build up the community of which we are part,
and shape it around the cross of your Son Jesus Christ.
Lord, as we sleep tonight,
may we rest in the knowledge of your relentless love.
When we wake tomorrow,
may we be prepared for all that lies ahead.
 

~ written by Tim Watson, posted on Lighting Beacons Liturgy.

From the blog
Pause for breath …
3 Prayers for endings and beginnings
People of the way
 

Open gates

 
David Adam writes,
 
“Every now and again ‘our eyes are opened’ and we see beyond the narrowness of our day-to-day vision. This was expressed by Jacob when he awoke out of sleep, a sleep he felt he had been in all his life up to that point: ‘Jacob awoke out of sleep and said, “How aweful is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”‘ (Genesis 28:16-17). Jacob had not been looking for his experience, it had suddenly opened before him. I believe that such experiences are offered to all of us at one time or another in our lives. But we in our turn have to be open enough to receive them. … If we face the unfamiliar it may open all sorts of gates for us.”
 
from The Open Gate: Celtic Prayers for Growing Spiritually
by David Adam, p.2
 

Prayer

O Lord,
    Open our eyes to your Presence
    Open our minds to your grace
    Open our lips to your praises
    Open our hearts to your love
    Open our lives to your healing
    And be found among us.

 
by David Adam,
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #15
 

From the blog
Turn to the light
Holy moment beneath the stars
Slow learners and bright ideas
 

Open confession


 

Advent Confession

inspired by Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11

Holy God,
open our eyes to the presence of your Spirit
upon us, within us, among us.

For our apathy in the presence of oppression,
Forgive us.

If we have contributed to the brokenheartedness of anyone,
Forgive us.

For our participation in systems that enslave,
Forgive us.

When we are deaf to your good news,
Have mercy and open our ears.

When our mouths remain too tightly closed,
Loosen our lips with songs of praise.

Hear our prayer, O God, and forgive our sins.
Hold us in your mercy, now and forever. Amen.

 
~ author unknown, posted on re:worship

From the blog
Theme: God makes all things new  [prayer sheet]
3 Prayers for Advent
Hard of hearing
 

Open to wonder


View of the Depot from the Chabot Museum, Rotterdam

 

Open my eyes that I may see
  wonderful things in your law.

 

 

Prayer

Father, we praise you for the gift of words:
the words we hear and read,
the words we speak and write.
As we handle and use the Holy Scriptures,
make us more sensitive to what they say,
more appreciative of the life and truth in these pages,
and of the love and courage of those who wrote them;
and open our ears to your voice,
and our lives to yourself,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 
Source unknown,
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #170
 

From the blog
Word study: Shema
Treasure for our times
Circle me, Lord
 

Stand firm

 

A timely exhortation from James as we enter another Advent season.

 

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

 

A Psalm of Celebration

loosely inspired by Psalm 118

Though we have known hardship and pain,
though life has not always turned out as we had hoped,
we will stand here and say:
God’s steadfast love endures for ever!

Though life becomes more complex,
the deepest questions remain unanswered,
and the mystery of faith deepens, we will say:
God’s steadfast love endures for ever!

And though the pain of the world
often seems more than we can bear or address,
we will stand firm in our faith and say:
God’s steadfast love endures for ever!
 

~ written by Ann Siddall, posted on re:worship

This prayer also appears in an earlier blog post:
Theme: Rejoice in the Lord always  [prayer sheet]

From the blog
imagine … no war …
In the school of prayer with St Francis of Assisi
Mightier than the crashing waves
 

3 prayers for prisoners of conscience


 
 

Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering.

 

Here are 3 prayers for those who took a stand against injustice and pay the price.

 

#1

Lord, I pray for my brothers and sisters
who are in prison because of their stand against injustice,
and for all the other people who have ‘disappeared’.
I pray for those undergoing torture;
Lord, give them strength, and the sense that they are not alone.
In particular I hold before you
those who believe that the world has forgotten them.
May they know that there are people who care,
and who are praying for them.
Jesus, arrested and tortured yourself,
be with them now,
and hold them in your wounded hands.

 
~ written by Angela Ashwin,
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #457
 

#2

Uphold, O God, all who are
persecuted or imprisoned for their beliefs.
Be to them a light showing the way ahead;
a rock giving them strength to stand;
a song singing of all things overcome.

 
~ written by Richard Harries,
from The Book of a Thousand Prayers by Angela Ashwin, #461
 

#3

We pray justice
for the falsely accused,
freedom for the wrongly imprisoned,
healing for the tortured or abused,
care for the orphan and widow,
concern for the refugee and dispossessed,
and above all forgiveness
for our emotional detachment.
May we weep as you weep,
love as you love,
and not be afraid to be angry
for the sake of your children,
wherever they might be.
In our helplessness we ask,
Lord, enfold them in your love.

 
~ written by John Birch,
posted on faithandworship.com
 

From the blog
Song in the night
People of the way
Theme: He heals the brokenhearted  [prayer sheet]