A Prayer

 

A Prayer

" Dear Lord, Today I thought of the words of Vincent van Gogh: “It is true there is an ebb and flow, but the sea remains the sea.” You are the sea. Although I experience many ups and downs in my emotions and often feel great shifts and changes in my inner life, you remain the same. Your sameness is not the sameness of a rock, but the sameness of a faithful lover. Out of your love I came to life, by your love I am sustained, and to your love I am always called back. There are days of sadness and days of joy; there are feelings of guilt and feelings of gratitude; there are moments of failure and moments of success; but all of them are embraced by your unwavering love. . . . O Lord, sea of love and goodness, let me not fear too much the storms and winds of my daily life, and let me know there is ebb and flow but the sea remains the sea. Amen." .... (Rev. Henri Nowen ) Picture Courtesy  : Bikepacking.com

Prayer for the day...

May God support us all the day long,till the shadows lengthen and the evening comes.

Till the busy world is hushed, the fever of life is over and our work is done.

Then in God's mercy, may He give us a safe lodging, a holy rest and peace at last.

.... John Henry Newman

I will pray for you....

I have heard many people say, “I will pray for you”. I myself have spoken those words to many. I see an instant magic in those words. Hearing it some will hold our hands and press it in affection; others wear a beautiful smile on their face; while there are still others who softly say, ‘Thank you, dear Brother.’ Nevertheless, seldom do I realise that I am making an important commitment. Moreover, worst, many times I fail to keep-up that commitment.

I have understood that taking a commitment to pray for another person is a serious one. These days, I take time to tell them, “I will pray for you.” I will not speak those words as a modern Cliché. I have also understood that prying for another person can become a heart to heart affair only when I walk deep into him and lead him into the healing presence of God. This is not possible in a fly-by-night operation!

The true magic of praying for brothers and sisters is that it will allow us to enter into their world of sorrow and joy, conflicts and agonies, loneliness and emptiness. That process will humble us, as we are the children of the same God called 'Abba'.

Prayer?

While many people pray, some will still have that nagging doubt as to whether they are just talking to themselves?

Philip Yancey speaking to Mike Hill of BBC Tees about leaps of faith....

"The question of unanswered prayers bedevils me and its one I'm concerned about a lot. God could have set up the world in a different way so that every prayer had an immediate magical answer. It would be a different kind of world to the one we live in though. There's more mystery involved, more of God depending on us to do God's will rather than God intervening in a spectacular and miraculous way. All of us who take prayer seriously will eventually run into that wall of unanswered prayer".

A Solitary Space for God

Will this sound a bit arrogant? Or instructive? But... I suggest.. only suggest. That’s my way of putting words. I remember Bee Gees who sang a song ‘Words’.... which said, 'words are all I have to take your heart away’. So, I wish to suggest a conerstone of prayer-life: that we setup a daily schedule to pray.

I have looked at the habit of prayer very closely and found out that it is very important to slice out a fixed time for prayer. The Bible points out many people who have done this. Daniel is a typical example. When he was going to be in the den of lions, we read Daniel thus: three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Many may call it a routine, others may call it a custom and still others may dismiss it as a mundane job. However, I will call Daniel’s scheduling, a neat and systematic approach to building a worshipful relationship with God.

Prayer gives-up all its meaning when we force it upon ourselves as an obligation. Prayer further gives-up its glory and grace when we just ‘say’ a prayer. I believe, prayer cannot be said. Prayer can only be spoken and listened.

Personal solitary prayer is our very own conversation with God. Hence, adding a new colour, a new sound, and a new setting to our daily personal solitary prayer is easy. Often, we can totally change our attitude to prayer by imbibing a new style of worship. It does not mean that our old methods were all wrong or ineffective. It only tells us to make a change... a change to break the common and the regular.

It is proved that setting up a special private place to pray improves our prayer-life. I have felt it very much true. From the working table, as I move to a special prayer table, my ability to pray has improved. The reason may be that there are lesser elements to distract me in an exclusive prayer space than in a general space. We see this very much in the Bible. In Exodus 33, we see a Moses who separates himself and moves to an exclusive tent to meet God. Solitary prayer in a new setting was important for Jesus too: many palaces in St. Mark and in the rest of the gospels, we see Jesus slipping away from the crowd and his disciples to lonely places to pray.

Can we find a solitary space in our little days to call God?

Solitary prayer forms the heart of worship in a prayer lover’s life. There is no doubt on that!!

If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you…. Exodus (NIV)