Message for the Third Sunday After the Epiphany

Views From the Pews on…..

Prayer

Lord, teach us how to pray aright with reverence and with fear; though dust and ashes in thy sight, we may, we must draw near.

We perish if we cease from prayer:  grant us power to pray;  and, when to meet thee we prepare, Lord, meet us by the way             Amen

There was a time when it seemed adequate to simply go through the routine of bedtime prayers, and thanking God for waking me each morning.  Prayer was not time spent enjoying God’s company, offering thanks and praise, but rather a quick well rehearsed verse, something learned from childhood, something to always remember so that we could always say that we had prayed.

I have since learnt, that is not enough!  Prayer is so greatly neglected, quite sadly, as the most powerful energy one can generate is prayer energy.  Many of us say we don’t know how to pray.  I once knew that feeling.  I no longer do.  I have spent many quiet hours just conversing with God, thanking him for his blessings, sharing my joys, concerns, waiting for his guidance, and gradually it becomes easier and easier to speak to him, as well as converse with others about God and his wondorous works.  I have acquired that energy, and it’s a feeling we all should share! 

How does one acquire this energy?  It really is quite easy.  We learn by doing.  Let us pray every time we get a chance.  Let us pray as we wake, in the car, in the street, in the shop, in traffic, at school, at work, every time the opportunity presents itself; and if we think about it, we get the opportunity very often.  We just don’t make use of it.

Practice constantly!  It can only improve our ability, and isn’t the best way to learn anything, by so doing?  If we want, therefore, to utilize the matchless power of prayer, let us begin praying immediately and continue to do so every opportunity we get.  We can transform spare moments by praying for our needs, for those around us, for our friends and loved ones, for everyone and everything.  Then, it is important for us to believe that our prayers will be answered.

‘Whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them’…Mark 11:24